Security video footage from the egalitarian section of the Western Wall at the southern end of the holy site has shown two people urinating inside the site, ostensibly due to a lack of facilities in the area.
Both incidents, involving a man and a woman, happened over the last two months at the same area of the site, at the bottom of a flight of steps from the main entrance to the egalitarian section but out of sight of the actual prayer platform.
It is unclear if those seen in the video footage urinating at the site were worshipers or had simply been passing and looked for a discreet spot to relieve themselves.
According to a spokesman for the Masorti (Conservative) Movement in Israel, which frequently uses the site for prayer services and religious celebrations, these are not isolated incidents but a relatively regular phenomenon.
There are no public toilets at the current egalitarian section and it has not been possible to obtain permits to install any type of facilities there.
The spokesman said that the lack of facilities at the egalitarian section or in the vicinity means that people are often hard-pressed to find a toilet when needed.
The nearest toilets are inside the central Western Wall complex and visitors must go through a security check before being able to reach them.
Director of the Masorti Movement in Israel Rakefet Ginsburg said the problem should be redressed by the construction of appropriate facilities within the framework of the Western Wall agreement to turn the current egalitarian section into a government-recognized holy site, which was indefinitely suspended by the previous government in 2017.
“The growing number of worshipers and visitors who are coming to the site needs proper basic conditions, and the State of Israel must pay attention to this and provide these facilities within the framework of the suspended Western Wall agreement,” said Director of the Masorti Movement in Israel Rakefet Ginsberg.
“There is not even a milligram of doubt that such a degrading phenomenon would not occur in any other religious site in the country without treatment and solution.
“We call on the Israeli government to act quickly to prevent a recurrence of such incidents, which harm one of the sacred symbols of Judaism and the State of Israel, to install toilet cubicles near the “Ezrat Yisrael” [egalitarian section] and to preserve the site’s respect as a family prayer plaza.”