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{{Short description|Holy site of Judaism in Jerusalem}}
{{Redirect|West Wall|the fortifications known in German as the Westwall|Siegfried Line|other uses|Western Wall (disambiguation)}}
{{Redirect|Wailing Wall}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2012}}
{{Infobox ancient site
|name          = Western Wall
|native_name   = {{langx|he|הכותל המערבי|HaKotel HaMa'aravi}}
|alternate_name= [The] Wailing Wall<br/>[The] Kotel<br/>Al-Buraq Wall {{langx|ar|الْحَائِط ٱلْبُرَاق|Ḥā’iṭ al-Burāq}}
|image         = Westernwall2.jpg
|alt=
|caption       = A view of the Western Wall
|map_type      = Old Jerusalem
|map_alt=
|map_size      = 280
|location      = [[Jerusalem]]
|region        = 
|coordinates   = {{coord|31.7767|35.2345|display=inline,title}}
|type          = Ancient limestone wall
|part_of       = [[Temple Mount]]
|length        = {{Convert|488|m|0}}
|width=
|height        = Exposed: {{Convert|19|m|0}}
|builder       = [[Herod the Great]]
|material      = Limestone
|built         = 19 BCE
|condition     = Preserved
}}
{{Jerusalem sidebar}}[[File:Western Wall.ogv|thumb|Western Wall]]

The '''Western Wall''' ({{langx|he|הַכּוֹתֶל הַמַּעֲרָבִי|HaKotel HaMa'aravi|the western wall}}; {{Audio|He-Kotel.ogg|pronunciation}}; [[Ashkenazi Hebrew]] pronunciation: ''HaKosel HaMa'arovi'') is an ancient [[retaining wall]] of the built-up hill known to Jews and Christians as the [[Temple Mount]] of [[Old City (Jerusalem)|Jerusalem]]. Its most famous section, known by the same name, often shortened by Jews to '''the Kotel''' or '''Kosel''', is known in the [[Western world|West]] as the '''Wailing Wall''', and in [[Arab world]] and [[Muslim world|Islamic world]] as the '''Buraq Wall''' ({{langx|ar|حَائِط ٱلْبُرَاق|Ḥā'iṭ al-Burāq}}; {{IPA|ar|'ħaːʔɪtˤ albʊ'raːq|}}). In a Jewish religious context, the term Western Wall and its variations is used in the narrow sense, for the section used for Jewish prayer; in its broader sense it refers to the entire {{convert|488|m|ft|adj=mid|-long}} retaining wall on the western side of the Temple Mount.

At the prayer section, just over half the wall's total height, including its 17 [[course (architecture)|courses]] located below street level, dates from the end of the [[Second Temple period]], and is believed to have been begun by [[Herod the Great]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Temple Mount in the Herodian Period (37 BC–70 AD) |url=https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/temple-at-jerusalem/the-temple-mount-in-the-herodian-period/ |publisher=Biblical Archaeology Society |date=21 July 2019 |access-date=17 July 2020}}</ref> The very large stone blocks of the lower courses are Herodian, the courses of medium-sized stones above them were added during the [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad period]], while the small stones of the uppermost courses are of more recent date, especially from [[Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem|the Ottoman period]].

The Western Wall plays an important role in Judaism due to it being part of the man-made "Temple Mount", an artificially expanded hilltop best known as the traditional site of the [[Temple in Jerusalem|Jewish Temple]]. Because of the [[Temple Mount entry restrictions]], the Wall is the holiest place where Jews are permitted to pray outside the Temple Mount platform, because the presumed site of the [[Holy of Holies]], the most sacred site in the Jewish faith, presumably lies just above and behind it. The original, natural, and irregular-shaped Temple Mount was gradually extended to allow for an ever-larger [[Temple in Jerusalem|Temple]] compound to be built at its top. The earliest source possibly mentioning this specific site as a place of Jewish worship is from the 10th century.<ref name= Goren>{{cite book |last= Ramon |first= Amnon |chapter= Delicate balances at the Temple Mount, 1967–1999 |title= Jerusalem: A City and Its Future |editor1= Marshall J. Breger |editor2=Ora Ahimeir |publisher= Syracuse University Press for the [[Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies]] |year= 2002 |isbn= 978-0815629139 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ru7dqV3a-LUC&pg=PA300 |page= 300 |access-date=18 March 2020}}</ref><ref name= report1930>Löfgren, Eliel; Barde, Charles; Van Kempen, J. (December 1930). [https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-183716/ Report of the Commission appointed by His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with the approval of the Council of the League of Nations, to determine the rights and claims of Moslems and Jews in connection with the Western or Wailing Wall at Jerusalem] (UNISPAL doc A/7057-S/8427, February 23, 1968)</ref> The Western Wall, in the narrow sense, i.e. referring to the section used for Jewish prayer, is also known as the "Wailing Wall", in reference to the practice of Jews weeping at the site. During the period of [[Byzantine Empire| Christian Roman rule]] over Jerusalem (ca. 324–638), Jews were completely barred from Jerusalem except on [[Tisha B'Av]], the day of national mourning for the Temples. The term "Wailing Wall" has historically been used mainly by Christians, with use by Jews becoming marginal.<ref name= Halkin01>{{harvnb|Halkin|2001}}</ref> Of the entire retaining wall, the section ritually used by Jews now faces a large plaza in the Jewish Quarter, near the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount, while the rest of the wall is concealed behind structures in the [[Muslim Quarter (Jerusalem)|Muslim Quarter]], with the small exception of an {{convert|8|m|adj=on}} section, the so-called "[[Little Western Wall]]" or "Small Wailing Wall". This segment of the western retaining wall derives particular importance from having never been fully obscured by medieval buildings, and displaying much of the original Herodian [[stonework]]. In religious terms, the "Little Western Wall" is presumed to be even closer to the Holy of Holies and thus to the "presence of God" ([[Shechina]]), and the [[Western Wall Tunnel|underground]] [[Warren's Gate]], which has been out of reach for Jews from the 12th century till its partial excavation in the 20th century.

The entire Western Wall constitutes the western border of ''[[al-Haram al-Sharif]]'' ("the Noble Sanctuary"), or the Al-Aqsa compound. It is believed to be the site where the Islamic Prophet [[Muhammad]] tied his winged steed, the [[Burāq]], on his [[Isra and Mi'raj|Night Journey]], which tradition connects to Jerusalem, before ascending to heaven. While the wall was considered an integral part of the [[Haram esh-Sharif]] and [[Jerusalem Waqf|''waqf'']] property of the [[Moroccan Quarter]] under Muslim rule, a right of Jewish prayer and [[pilgrimage]] has long existed as part of the [[Status Quo (Jerusalem and Bethlehem)|Status Quo]] regulations.<ref>{{cite book |title=United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine Working Paper on the Holy Places|date=1949|author=UN Conciliation Commission |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:United_Nations_Conciliation_Commission_for_Palestine_Working_Paper_on_the_Holy_Places.djvu|pages=26|quote=The Palestine Administration interpreted the Status Quo in respect of the Wailing Wall as being that the Jewish Community had a right of access to the pavement in front of the Wall for their devotions, but that the Wall itself, the pavement in front of it and the adjacent Moroccan Quarter, were legally Moslem property. The Jews might bring to the Wall only those appurtenances of worship that were allowed under the Ottoman regime. This position was in general reaffirmed by the International Commission appointed by the British Government in 1930, with the approval of the Council of the League of Nations, to enquire into conflicting rights and claims concerning the Wailing Wall. The International Commission further ruled that although the Jews enjoyed no sort of proprietary rights to the Wall or the adjacent pavement, they should have free access to them at all times, subject to certain stipulations. The placing of benches and screens against the Wall was prohibited; the Moslems were similarly forbidden to carry out the Zikr ceremony during the progress of Jewish devotions or to cause annoyance to the Jews in any other way; no political speeches or demonstrations near the Wall were to be allowed; the Moslems' right to repair the pavement was affirmed, and if any repairs were not carried out by them in due time, the work was to be undertaken by the Government. The maintenance of the Wall itself was entrusted to the Government, but it was understood that repairs to it should be carried out only after consultation with the Supreme Moslem Council and the Chief Rabbinate.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Status Quo in the Holy Places|date=1929|first=L. G. A.|last=Cust|author-link=Lionel George Archer Cust|publisher=H.M.S.O. for the High Commissioner of the Government of Palestine|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Status_Quo_in_the_Holy_Places|pages=44–45|quote=The immediate neighbourhood of the Wailing Wall is inhabited by a number of Moroccan families, who are the beneficiaries of the ancient Waqf dating from the thirteenth century of Abu Midian. Some of the dwellings are entered from the space in front of the Wall. The wall separating the garden to the north from the Wailing Wall was rebuilt without incident in 1929. The wall overlooking the Wailing Wall by the Bab-al-Mughrabi was also rebuilt at the same time. The Moslems wanted to erect a low wall, but it was ruled, to preserve the Status Quo, that the wall must be rebuilt to its former height. The Wailing Wall, as being one of the few relics of the Temple of Herod of undisputed authenticity, is held in very great veneration by the Jews. Jewish writers refer to it as "the Holiest possession of the fifteen millions of Jews throughout the world which they have not forgotten for one moment since the Dispersion." On Sabbaths and other Holy Days the Wall is thronged with worshippers, the American and European Jew mixing with the Orthodox Jew in his caftan and the Bokharan in his gorgeous silks. The Jewish custom of praying here is of considerable antiquity, being mentioned by Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela and has now become an established right. This right to pray has, however, become linked with the claim to the actual ownership of the Wall. The Moslems resist this on the ground that the Wall is an integral part of the enclosure wall of the Haram al Sharif, and that the space in front of it is a public way, and part of the premises of the Abu Midian Waqf. For this reason the Moslems have always protested against the placing of benches or chairs in front of the Wall by the Jews as causing an obstruction in this public way and implying possessory rights. Though benches have certainly from time to time been introduced, there is extant a resolution taken by the Administrative Council and confirmed by the Mutasarrif in 1912 that chairs or tents or curtains (to divide the women from the men) are not to be allowed. This is still enforced, but portable camp-stools or boxes or tins with cushions are permitted for the convenience of worshippers. This ruling was notified to the Jewish religious authorities and the Police by the District Governor in 1922, and confirmed in 1926 after a rather serious dispute had arisen on account of the introduction of some benches on the previous Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).}}</ref><ref name= Reiter17>{{cite book |author=Yitzhak Reiter|title=Contested Holy Places in Israel–Palestine: Sharing and Conflict Resolution|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ieyfDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT26|year= 2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-351-99884-0|pages=26–}}</ref> This position was confirmed in a [[1930 Western Wall Commission|1930 international commission]] during the [[British Mandate-Palestine|British Mandate]] period. 

With the rise of the [[Zionism|Zionist movement]] in the early 20th century, the wall became a source of friction between the Jewish and Muslim communities, the latter being worried that the wall could be used to further Jewish claims to the Temple Mount and thus Jerusalem. During this period outbreaks of violence at the foot of the wall became commonplace, with a particularly deadly [[1929 Palestine riots|riot in 1929]] in which 133 Jews and 116 Arabs were killed, with many more people injured. After the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]] the eastern portion of Jerusalem was occupied by Jordan. Under Jordanian control Jews were completely expelled from the Old City including the [[Jewish Quarter (Jerusalem)|Jewish Quarter]], effectively banning Jewish prayer at the site of the Western Wall for 19 years. This period ended on June 10, 1967, when Israel gained control of the site following the [[Six-Day War]]. Three days after establishing control over the Western Wall site, the [[Moroccan Quarter]] was bulldozed by Israeli authorities to create space for what is now the Western Wall plaza.
[[File:Jerusalem Western Wall stones.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.5|Herodian ashlars of the Western Wall]]

==Etymology==
===Western Wall===
Early Jewish texts referred to a "western wall of the Temple",<ref name= SSR>[[Shir ha-Shirim Rabbah]], ch. 2–8</ref> but there is doubt whether the texts were referring to the outer, retaining wall called today "the Western Wall", or to the western wall of the actual Temple.<ref name= Halkin01/> The earliest Jewish use of the Hebrew term "''ha-kotel ha-ma'aravi''", "the Western Wall", as referring to the wall visible today, was by the 11th-century poet [[Ahimaaz ben Paltiel]].<ref name= Halkin01/>

===Wailing Wall===
The name "Wailing Wall", and descriptions such as "wailing place", appeared regularly in English literature during the 19th century.<ref>"Wailing Wall" appears, for example, in J.J. Reynolds, ''Jewish Advocate for the Young'' (1859). H. Bonar, ''Days and Nights in the East'' (1866) and [[J.R. Macduff]], ''Memories of Olivet'' (1868), and many later works.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Barclay|1858|p=493}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Warner|1878|p=45}}</ref> The name ''Mur des Lamentations'' was used in French and ''Klagemauer'' in German. This description stemmed from the Jewish practice of coming to the site to mourn and bemoan the destruction of the [[Temple in Jerusalem|Temple]] and the loss of national freedom it symbolized.<ref name= Halkin01/>
{{Quote box
| quote = Jews may often be seen sitting for hours at the Wailing-place bent in sorrowful meditation over the history of their race, and repeating oftentimes the words of the Seventy-ninth Psalm. On Fridays especially, Jews of both sexes, of all ages, and from all countries, assemble in large numbers to kiss the sacred stones and weep outside the precincts they may not enter.
| source = Charles Wilson, 1881<ref>{{harvnb|Wilson|1881|p=41}}</ref>
| width = 30em
}}

===Al-Buraq Wall===
[[Arab world]] and [[Muslim world|Islamic world]] have associated the name [[Buraq|Al-Buraq]] with the wall at least since the 1860s.<ref name= Rosen/>

==Location, dimensions, stones==
[[File:Klagemauer.JPG|thumb|Panorama of the Western Wall with the [[Dome of the Rock]] (left) and [[Qibli Mosque|al-Aqsa mosque]] (right) in the background]]
[[File:The Western Wall and Dome of the rock in the old city of Jerusalem.jpg|thumb|The Western Wall and Dome of the Rock]]

===Prayer section vs. entire wall===
The term Western Wall commonly refers to a {{convert|187|ft|m|adj=on|abbr=out}} exposed section of a much longer retaining wall, built by Herod on the western flank of the [[Temple Mount]]. Only when used in this sense is it synonymous with the term Wailing Wall. This section faces a large plaza and is set aside for prayer.

In its entirety, the western retaining wall of the Herodian Temple Mount complex stretches for {{Convert|1600|ft|0}}, most of which is hidden behind medieval residential structures built along its length.

There are only two other revealed sections: the southern part of the Wall (see [[#Robinson's Arch area|Robinson's Arch area]]), which measures approximately {{convert|80|m|0}}, and is separated from the prayer area by just a narrow stretch of archaeological remains; and another, much shorter section, known as the [[Little Western Wall]], which is located close to the [[Gates of the Temple Mount#Iron Gate|Iron Gate]].

The entire western wall functions as a retaining wall, supporting and enclosing the ample substructures built by Herod the Great around 19 BCE. Herod's project was to create an artificial extension to the small quasi-natural plateau on which the [[Solomon's temple|First Temple]] stood, already widened in [[Hasmonean]] times during the [[Second Temple]] period, by finally transforming it into the almost rectangular, wide expanse of the Temple Mount platform visible today.

===Height, courses, building stones===
At the Western Wall Plaza, the total height of the Wall from its foundation is estimated at {{Convert|105|ft|m|0}}, with the above-ground section standing approximately {{Convert|62|ft|m|0}} high. The Wall consists of 45 stone courses, 28 of them above ground and 17 underground.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://english.thekotel.org/content.asp?id=28 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20051214002214/http://english.thekotel.org/content.asp?Id=28 |url-status= dead |archive-date= December 14, 2005 |title= The Story of the Kotel: Facts and Figures |publisher= The Western Wall Heritage Foundation }}</ref> The first seven above-ground layers are from [[Herodian kingdom|the Herodian period]]. This section of wall is built from enormous [[meleke]] [[limestone]] [[ashlar|blocks]], possibly quarried at either [[Zedekiah's Cave]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Quarrying History in Jerusalem |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B05E2D81E38F932A35751C1A963948260|work=The New York Times |last=Friedman |first= Thomas L. |access-date=October 18, 2008 |date=December 1, 1985 |quote=Herod the Great certainly used it as the main quarry for building blocks needed to renovate the Temple and its retaining walls, including what is known today as the Wailing Wall. |author-link=Thomas Friedman}}</ref> situated under the [[Muslim Quarter (Jerusalem)|Muslim Quarter]] of the [[Old City of Jerusalem|Old City]], or at [[Ramat Shlomo]]<ref>{{cite news |url=https://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1189411466635&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130619155456/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1189411466635&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull |url-status= dead |archive-date= June 19, 2013 |title= Archeologists find 2nd Temple quarry |last= Lefkovits |first= Etgar |access-date= October 18, 2008 |date= September 12, 2007 |newspaper= [[The Jerusalem Post]]
| quote= An ancient quarry where King Herod's workers chiseled huge high-quality limestones for the construction of the Second Temple, including the Western Wall, has been uncovered in Jerusalem, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Sunday (...) Dozens of quarries have previously been uncovered in Jerusalem—including ones larger than the present find—but this is the first one that archeologists have found which they believe was used in the construction of the Temple Mount itself.}}</ref> {{convert|4|km}} northwest of the Old City. Most of them weigh between {{convert|2|and|8|ST|lk=on|abbr=off}} each, but others weigh even more, with one [[Western Stone|extraordinary stone]] located slightly north of [[Wilson's Arch (Jerusalem)|Wilson's Arch]]<ref name= BenDov83>{{cite book |last1= Ben Dov |first1= Meir |last2= Naor |first2= Mordechai |last3= Aner |first3= Ze'ev |title= The Western Wall |year= 1983 |publisher= Ministry of Defence Publishing House |location= Israel |isbn= 965-05-0055-3 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/westernwall00bend/page/ 41–62] |chapter= II: Architecture and Archaeology |url=https://archive.org/details/westernwall00bend/page/ }}</ref> measuring {{convert|13.55|m|ft}} long, {{convert|3.3|m|ft}} high,<ref name= HeritageF>{{cite web |title= Facts and Figures: The Great Course (Nidbach Raba) |publisher = [[Western Wall Heritage Foundation]] |url= https://thekotel.org/en/wailing-wall-western-wall/ |access-date=2024-10-26 }}</ref> approximately {{convert|1.8 to 2.5|m|ft}} deep,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://people.uwec.edu/jolhm/research_pub/publications.htm |title= Publications, #79 |last= Jol |first= H. M. |display-authors= etal |year= 2006 |access-date=13 August 2015}}</ref><ref name= JolBahat>Harry M. Jol, Paul D. Bauman and [[Dan Bahat]]: ''Looking into the Western Wall, Jerusalem, Israel''. Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR 2006), June 19–22, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Papers on CD-ROM. Also in: Dan Bahat, ''The Jerusalem Western Wall Tunnel'', Israel Exploration Society, 2013, pp. 395–440.</ref> and weighing between {{Convert|250 and 300|t|ST}}.<ref name= JolBahat/> Each of these [[ashlars]] is framed by fine-chiseled borders. The margins themselves measure between {{convert|5|and|20|cm|0}} wide, with their depth measuring {{convert|1.5|cm}}. In the Herodian period, the upper {{convert|10|m|0}} of wall were {{convert|1|m|in|0}} thick and served as the outer wall of the double [[colonnade]] of the Temple platform. This upper section was decorated with [[pilaster]]s, the remainder of which were destroyed when the [[Byzantine]]s reconquered Jerusalem from the [[Sasanian Empire|Persians]] in 628.<ref name= BenDov83/>

The next four courses, consisting of smaller plainly dressed stones, are [[Umayyad]] work (8th century, Early Muslim period).<ref name= EJWW>{{cite book |title= Encyclopedia Judaica |edition= 2nd |volume= 21 |pages= 24–27 |author= Jacob Auerbach, [[Dan Bahat]] and Shaked Gilboa |chapter= Western Wall |publisher= Macmillan |year= 2007 |isbn= 978-0028659282}}</ref> Above that are 16 to 17 courses of small stones from the [[Mamluk]] period (13th–16th centuries) and later.<ref name= EJWW/>

==History==

===Construction and destruction (19 BCE – 70 CE)===
[[File:Kotel engraving 1850.jpg|thumb|Engraving, 1850 by {{interlanguage link|Rabbi Joseph Schwarz|he|יהוסף שוורץ}}]]

According to the [[Hebrew Bible]], [[Solomon's Temple]] was built atop what is known as the Temple Mount in the 10th century BCE and destroyed by the [[Babylonia]]ns in 586 BCE,<ref>Date is adjusted in some Jewish texts to read 422 BCE. See [[chronology of the Bible#Rabbinic traditions|Chronology of the Bible]].</ref> and the [[Second Temple]] completed and dedicated in 516 BCE. Around 19 BCE Herod the Great began a massive expansion project on the Temple Mount. In addition to fully rebuilding and enlarging the Temple, he artificially expanded the platform on which it stood, doubling it in size. Today's Western Wall formed part of the retaining perimeter wall of this platform. In 2011, Israeli archaeologists announced the surprising discovery of Roman coins minted well after Herod's death, found under the foundation stones of the wall. The excavators came upon the coins inside a [[mikveh|ritual bath]] that predates Herod's building project, which was filled in to create an even base for the wall and was located under its southern section.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna45419597|title=Coin discovery sheds new light on sacred Jerusalem site (AP)|publisher=NBC News|date=November 24, 2011 }}</ref> This seems to indicate that Herod did not finish building the entire wall by the time of his death in 4 BCE. The find confirms the description by historian [[Josephus Flavius]], which states that construction was finished only during the reign of [[Agrippa II|King Agrippa II]], Herod's great-grandson.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.antiquities.org.il/about_eng.asp?Modul_id=14 |title=Building the Western Wall: Herod Began it but Didn't Finish it |publisher=Israel Antiquities Authority |access-date=November 23, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103024430/http://www.antiquities.org.il/about_eng.asp?Modul_id=14 |archive-date=November 3, 2011}}</ref> Given Josephus' information, the surprise mainly regarded the fact that an unfinished retaining wall in this area could also mean that at least parts of the splendid [[Royal Stoa (Jerusalem)|Royal Stoa]] and the [[Robinson's Arch|monumental staircase]] leading up to it could not have been completed during Herod's lifetime. Also surprising was the fact that the usually very thorough Herodian builders had cut corners by filling in the ritual bath, rather than placing the foundation course directly onto the much firmer bedrock. Some scholars are doubtful of the interpretation and have offered alternative explanations, such as, for example, later repair work.

[[Herod's Temple]] was destroyed by the [[Roman Empire|Romans]], along with the rest of Jerusalem, in 70 CE,<ref>Date is adjusted in some Jewish texts to read 68 CE. See [[chronology of the Bible#Rabbinic traditions|Chronology of the Bible]].</ref> during the [[First Jewish–Roman War]].

===Late Roman and Byzantine periods (135–638)===
During much of the 2nd–5th centuries of the [[Common Era]], after the Roman defeat of the [[Bar Kokhba revolt]] in 135 CE, Jews were banned from Jerusalem. There is some evidence that Roman emperors in the 2nd and 3rd centuries did permit them to visit the city to worship on the [[Mount of Olives]] and sometimes on the Temple Mount itself.<ref name=UJT>{{cite book |last=Neusner |first=Jacob |title=Understanding Jewish Theology |year=2001 |location=Global Academic Publishing |isbn=1-58684-090-8 |page=79 |chapter=Judaism and the Land of Israel |url=https://archive.org/details/understandingjew0000unse/page/}}</ref> When the empire started becoming Christian under [[Constantine I]], they were given permission to enter the city once a year, on the [[Tisha B'Av]], to lament the loss of the Temple at the wall.<ref>{{cite book |last=Harman |first=Graham |title=A History of Palestine |year=2008 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |isbn=978-0-691-11897-0 |page=24 |chapter=The Holiness of the "Holy Land" |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofpalesti00krea/page/}}</ref> The [[Itinerarium Burdigalense|Bordeaux Pilgrim]], who wrote in 333 CE, suggests that it was probably to the [[Foundation Stone|perforated stone]] or the Rock of Moriah, "to which the Jews come every year and anoint it, bewail themselves with groans, rend their garments, and so depart". This was because an imperial decree from Rome barred Jews from living in Jerusalem. Just once per year they were permitted to return and bitterly grieve about the fate of their people. Comparable accounts survive, including those by the Church Father, [[Gregory of Nazianzus]] (c. 329–390) and by [[Jerome]] in his commentary to [[Book of Zephaniah|Zephaniah]] written in 392 CE. In the 4th century, Christian sources reveal that the Jews encountered great difficulty in buying the right to pray near the Western Wall, at least on the 9th of Av.<ref name=UJT/> In 425 CE, the Jews of the Galilee wrote to Byzantine empress [[Aelia Eudocia]] seeking permission to pray by the ruins of the Temple. Permission was granted and they were officially permitted to resettle in Jerusalem.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gold |first=Dore |author-link=Dore Gold |title=The Fight for Jerusalem |year=2007 |publisher=Regnery |isbn=978-1-59698-029-7 |page=56 |url=https://archive.org/details/fightforjerusale00gold/page/}}</ref>

====Archaeology====
Discovery of underground rooms that could have been used as food storage carved out of the bedrock under the 1,400-year-old mosaic floor of Byzantine structure was announced by [[Israel Antiquities Authority]] in May in 2020.

"At first we were very disappointed because we found we hit the bedrock, meaning that the material culture, the human activity here in Jerusalem ended. What we found here was a rock-cut system—three rooms, all hewn in the bedrock of ancient Jerusalem" said co-director of the excavation Barak Monnickendam-Givon.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Researchers find ancient rooms under Jerusalem's Western Wall|url=https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2020/05/20/researchers-find-ancient-rooms-under-jerusalems-western-wall.html|website=The Jakarta Post|language=en|access-date=2020-05-24}}</ref>

===Early Muslim to Mamluk period (638–1517)===
Several Jewish authors of the 10th and 11th centuries write about the Jews resorting to the Western Wall for devotional purposes.<ref>David M. Gitlitz & Linda Kay Davidson "Pilgrimage and the Jews" (Westport: CT: Praeger, 2006) 42–.</ref><ref name=report1930/> [[Ahimaaz ben Paltiel|Ahimaaz]] relates that Samuel ben Paltiel (980–1010) gave money for oil at "the sanctuary at the Western Wall."<ref name="Mann72">{{cite book |author=Mann |first=Jacob |author-link=Jacob Mann |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6muQAAAAIAAJ |title=Texts and Studies in Jewish History and Literature: Ḳaraitica |publisher=Ktav Pub. House |year=1972 |isbn=978-0870680854 |page=20 |quote=An improvement evidently took place after the Fatimid conquest in 970 when permission was granted to pray not at a gate but at the Western Wall (כותל מערבי). This permission may have been due to the intervention of Paltiel, the first Egyptian Nagid. Paltiel's son, Samuel, on the occasion of the transference' of his parents' remains to Jerusalem, donated among other gifts money for "oil for the sanctuary at the Western Wall, for the altar that is inside" (ושמן למקדש בכותל מערבי למזבח שבפנים). |access-date=May 17, 2013}}</ref><ref name=Bonfil09>{{cite book |author=R. Bonfil|title=History and Folklore in a Medieval Jewish Chronicle: The Family Chronicle of Aḥima'az Ben Paltiel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QX6IYhQZ5MwC&pg=PA336|access-date=May 17, 2013|year=2009|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-17385-9|page=336}}</ref><ref name=Levanon80>{{cite book |author=Yosef Levanon|title=The Jewish travellers in the twelfth century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XpBtAAAAMAAJ |access-date=May 17, 2013 |date=1980 |publisher=University Press of America|isbn=978-0-8191-1122-7|page=259|quote=The scroll of Ahim'as (11th century) speaks of a synagogue near the Western Wall.}}</ref> [[Benjamin of Tudela]] (1170) wrote "In front of this place is the western wall, which is one of the walls of the Holy of Holies. This is called the Gate of Mercy, and hither come all the Jews to pray before the Wall in the open court." The account gave rise to confusion about the actual location of Jewish worship, and some suggest that Benjamin in fact referred to the Eastern Wall along with its [[Golden Gate (Jerusalem)|Gate of Mercy]].<ref name=Goldhill09>{{cite book |author=Simon Goldhill|title=Jerusalem: City of Longing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PoLEULaZHzAC&pg=PA74|access-date=May 20, 2013|year=2009|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-03468-6|pages=74–75|quote=Perhaps the earliest evidence for the Western Wall being used for prayer is found in the Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, who visited Jerusalem at some point between 1169 and 1171 on his long trip around the east from Spain, when the city was ruled by the Crusaders. […] This is a confused account: the Gate of Mercy is in the Eastern Wall. But it may imply that the Western Wall was also used for prayer.}}</ref><ref name=Philipson68>{{cite book |author=David Philipson|title=Hebrew Union College Annual|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mnu1AAAAMAAJ|access-date=May 20, 2013|edition=1930|volume=6|year=1968|publisher=Hebrew Union College|page=7|quote=How this confusion between the Golden Gate and the Western Wall could have arisen it is difficult to imagine, unless it be due to the fact that both spots may have been favourite places of prayer for the Jews of the Middle Ages, just as the Western or Wailing Wall continues to be still today. The fact that this confusion seems to have existed only with Jewish travellers would tend to corroborate this hypothesis.}}</ref> While [[Nahmanides]] (d. 1270) did not mention a synagogue near the Western Wall in his detailed account of the temple site,<ref>{{cite book |author1=Fred Skolnik|author2=Michael Berenbaum|title=Encyclopaedia Judaica|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VkAOAQAAMAAJ|access-date=May 20, 2013|year=2007|publisher=Macmillan Reference |isbn=978-0-02-865949-7|page=25|quote=In the 12th century Benjamin of Tudela mentions Jews coming to the Western Wall for prayers and to the "Mercy Gate," but it is possible that the other walls to the south and east also served a similar purpose. Later visiting rabbis (12th–15th centuries) also refer to the walls of the Temple Mount, but they too, are not specific in terms of a gathering spot for Jewish worship along the Western Wall. The Western Wall is not mentioned at all by Nahmanides (13th century) in his detailed account of the Temple site in 1267 nor in the report of [[Ishtori Haparchi|Estori ha-Parhi]] (14th century). It does not figure even in descriptions of Jerusalem in Jewish sources of the 15th century (e.g., Meshullam of Volterra, [[Obadiah ben Abraham|Obadiah of Bertinoro]], etc.). The name Western Wall, used by Obadiah, refers—as can be inferred from the context—to the southwestern corner of the wall, and there is no hint that there was a place of Jewish worship there. It is only from the 16th century that Jews began praying at the present location and this is clear from the available sources. Thenceforth all literary sources describe it as a place of assembly and prayer for Jews. Transmitted by [[Moses Hagiz]], it was the sultan [[Selim I]], the conqueror of Jerusalem, who recovered the Wall from underneath the dungheap which was hiding it and granted permission to the Jews to hold prayers there.}}</ref> shortly before the [[First Crusade|Crusader period]] a synagogue existed at the site.<ref name=MG1>{{cite book |last=Gilbert |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Gilbert |title=Jerusalem Illustrated History Atlas |year=1977 |publisher=[[Board of Deputies of British Jews]] |location=London |isbn=0-905648-04-8 |page=31 |chapter=The 'Wailing Wall' Under Ottoman rule 1517–1917}}</ref> [[Obadiah ben Abraham|Obadiah of Bertinoro]] (1488) states "the Western Wall, part of which is still standing, is made of great, thick stones, larger than any I have seen in buildings of antiquity in Rome or in other lands."<ref>{{cite book |last=Yaakov Dovid |first=Shulman |title=Pathway to Jerusalem |year=1992 |publisher=CIS Publishers |location=US |isbn=1-56062-130-3 |page=59 |chapter=A Letter to My Father}} Adler preferred the generic translation "western wall" rather than "Western Wall". {{cite book |author=Elkan Nathan Adler |title=Jewish Travellers in the Middle Ages |publisher=Dover |year=1987 |page=240}}</ref>

Shortly after [[Saladin]]'s 1187 [[Siege of Jerusalem (1187)|siege of the city]], in 1193, the sultan's son and successor [[Al-Afdal ibn Salah ad-Din|al-Afdal]] established the land adjacent to the wall as a [[waqf|charitable trust]] (''waqf''). The largest part of it was named after an important mystic, [[Abu Madyan|Abu Madyan Shu'aib]]. The Abu Madyan waqf was dedicated to [[Maghreb]]ian pilgrims and scholars who had taken up residence there, and houses were built only metres away from the wall, from which they were thus separated by just a narrow passageway,<ref>{{cite book |last=Harman |first=Graham |title=A History of Palestine |year=2008 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |isbn=978-0-691-11897-0|page=225 |chapter=The Mufti and the Wailing Wall |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofpalesti00krea/page/ |url-access=registration |access-date=13 December 2022}}</ref> some {{convert|4|m}} wide.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

The first likely mention of the Islamic tradition that Buraq was tethered at the site is from the 14th century. A manuscript by Ibrahim b. Ishaq al-Ansari (known as Ibn Furkah, d. 1328) refers to Bab al-Nabi ({{lit|Gate of the Prophet}}), an old name for [[Barclay's Gate]] below the Maghrebi Gate.<ref name=Ricca07>{{cite book |last=Ricca |first=Simone |title=Reinventing Jerusalem |year=2007 |publisher=[[I.B.Tauris]] |isbn=978-1-84511-387-2 |page=212 |chapter=Notes to Chapter One}}</ref><ref name=KhalidiPI>{{cite book |last=Khalidi |first=Rashid |title=Palestinian Identity |year=1997 |publisher=Columbia University Press |page=216}}</ref> Charles D. Matthews however, who edited al-Firkah's work, notes that other statements of al-Firkah might seem to point to the [[The Double Gate|Double Gate]] in the [[Southern Wall|southern wall]].<ref name=Matthews>{{cite journal |last=Matthews |first=Charles D. |title=The Wailing Wall and Al Buraq. Is the 'Wailing Wall' in Jerusalem the 'Wall of al-Buraq' of Moslem tradition? |year=1932 |pages=331–339 |journal=The Moslem World |volume=22 |number=4 |doi=10.1111/j.1478-1913.1932.tb03757.x |via=reprint in "Al-Haram ash-Sharif in Jerusalem: texts and studies", III, Collected and reprinted by [[Fuat Sezgin]] et al., Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science, [[Frankfurt|Frankfurt/Main]] (2007), pp. 225–235 |url=https://www.answering-islam.org/Books/MW/al-buraq.htm |access-date=13 December 2022|issn =0027-4909}}</ref>

===Ottoman period (1517–1917)===
[[File:Wailing Wall by Gustav Bauernfeind.png|thumb|right|upright|''Wailing Wall, Jerusalem'' by [[Gustav Bauernfeind]] (19th century)]]

In 1517, the Turkish [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] under [[Selim I]] conquered Jerusalem from the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluks]] who had held it since 1250. Selim's son, [[Sultan]] [[Suleiman the Magnificent]], ordered the construction of an imposing wall to be built around the entire city, which still stands today. Various folktales relate Suleiman's quest to locate the Temple site and his order to have the area "swept and sprinkled, and the Western Wall washed with rosewater" upon its discovery.<ref name=VilnayP61>{{harvnb|Vilnay|2003|pp=61–62}}</ref> According to a legend cited by [[Moses Hagiz]], Jews received official permission to worship at the site and Ottoman architect [[Mimar Sinan]] built an oratory for them there,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hagiz |first=Moses |author-link=Moses Hagiz |title=פרשת אלה מסעי |url=https://hebrewbooks.org/20699 |access-date=|website=|pages=18ff}}</ref> but, as of [[Purim]] 1625, Jews were banned from praying on the Temple Mount and only sometimes dared to pray at the Western Wall, for which purpose a special liturgy had been arranged.<ref name=":0" /> Gedaliah of [[Siemiatycze]], who lived in Jerusalem from 1700 to 1706, reports that Jews then had access to the wall and would pray there as often as possible.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=of Siemiatycze |first=Gedaliah |title=קונטרס שאלו שלום ירושלים |publisher=Zalman Shazar |year=1963 |location=Jerusalem |pages=18–22}}</ref>

Over the centuries, land close to the Wall became built up. Public access to the Wall was through the [[Moroccan Quarter]], a labyrinth of narrow alleyways. In May 1840 a [[firman (decree)|firman]] issued by [[Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt|Ibrahim Pasha]] forbade the Jews to pave the passageway in front of the Wall. It also cautioned them against "raising their voices and displaying their books there." They were, however, allowed "to pay visits to it as of old."<ref name=report1930 />

{{interlanguage link|Rabbi Joseph Schwarz|he|יהוסף שוורץ}} writing in the mid-19th century records:

<blockquote>This wall is visited by all our brothers on every feast and festival; and the large space at its foot is often so densely filled up, that all cannot perform their devotions here at the same time. It is also visited, though by less numbers, on every Friday afternoon, and by some nearly every day. No one is molested in these visits by the Mahomedans, as we have a very old [[firman (decree)|firman]] from the Sultan of Constantinople that the approach shall not be denied to us, though the Porte obtains for this privilege a special tax, which is, however, quite insignificant.<ref>{{cite book |last=Schwarz |first=Joseph |title=Descriptive Geography and Brief Historical Sketch of Palestine |year=1850 |publisher=A. Hart |location=[[Philadelphia]] |chapter=Moriah, The Temple Mount |chapter-url=http://www.jewish-history.com/Palestine/moriah.html}}</ref></blockquote>

Over time the increased numbers of people gathering at the site resulted in tensions between the Jewish visitors who wanted easier access and more space, and the residents, who complained of the noise.<ref name=report1930 /> This gave rise to Jewish attempts at gaining ownership of the land adjacent to the Wall.
[[File:Koisel 1870.jpg|thumb|upright|The Western Wall in c. 1870, squeezed in by houses of the Moroccan Quarter, a century before they were demolished]]

In the late 1830s a wealthy Jew named Shemarya Luria attempted to purchase houses near the Wall, but was unsuccessful,<ref>{{cite book |last=Rossoff |first=Dovid |title=Where Heaven Touches Earth |year=1998 |publisher=Guardian Press |location=[[Jerusalem]] |isbn=0-87306-879-3 |page=186 |chapter=The Era of Suffering: 1800–1840}}</ref> as was Jewish sage Abdullah of Bombay who tried to purchase the Western Wall in the 1850s.<ref name=ANT>Baruch, Yuval. [http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_Item_eng.asp?sec_id=17&sub_subj_id=468 The Mughrabi Gate Access – the Real Story]. [[Israel Antiquities Authority]]</ref> In 1869 Rabbi Hillel Moshe Gelbstein settled in Jerusalem. He arranged that benches and tables be brought to the Wall on a daily basis for the study groups he organised and the [[minyan]] which he led there for years. He also formulated a plan whereby some of the courtyards facing the Wall would be acquired, with the intention of establishing three synagogues—one each for the [[Sephardi Jews|Sephardim]], the [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidim]] and the [[Perushim]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Rossoff |first=Dovid |title=Where Heaven Touches Earth |year=1998 |publisher=Guardian Press |location=[[Jerusalem]] |isbn=0-87306-879-3 |page=231 |chapter=Bound Within the Walls: 1840–1870}}</ref> He also endeavoured to re-establish an ancient practice of "guards of honour", which according to the mishnah in [[Middot (Talmud)|Middot]], were positioned around the Temple Mount. He rented a house near the Wall and paid men to stand guard there and at various other gateways around the mount. However, this set-up lasted only for a short time due to lack of funds or because of Arab resentment.<ref name=SLC>{{cite book |last1=Ben Dov |first1=Meir |last2=Naor |first2=Mordechai |last3=Aner |first3=Ze'ev |title=The Western Wall |year=1983 |publisher=Ministry of Defence Publishing House |location=[[Israel]] |isbn=965-05-0055-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/westernwall00bend/page/ 83–97] |chapter=IV: Sanctity, Law and Customs|url=https://archive.org/details/westernwall00bend/page/}}</ref> In 1874, Mordechai Rosanes paid for the repaving of the alleyway adjacent to the wall.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Fred Skolnik|author2=Michael Berenbaum|title=Encyclopaedia Judaica: Ra-Sam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gj8OAQAAMAAJ|year=2007|publisher=Macmillan Reference in association with the Keter Pub. House|isbn=978-0-02-865945-9|page=422|quote=His brother, Mordecai Rosanes, financed the paving of the Western Wall area in Jerusalem in 1874.}}</ref>

In 1887 [[Edmond James de Rothschild|Baron Rothschild]] conceived a plan to purchase and demolish the Moroccan Quarter as "a merit and honor to the Jewish People."<ref name=WHTE>{{cite book |last=Rossoff |first=Dovid |title=Where Heaven Touches Earth |year=1998 |publisher=Guardian Press |location=[[Jerusalem]] |isbn=0-87306-879-3 |pages=330–331 |chapter=Beyond the Walls: 1870–1900}}</ref> The proposed purchase was considered and approved by the Ottoman Governor of Jerusalem, Rauf Pasha, and by the Mufti of Jerusalem, [[Mohammed Tahir Husseini]]. Even after permission was obtained from the highest secular and Muslim religious authority to proceed, the transaction was shelved after the authorities insisted that after demolishing the quarter no construction of any type could take place there, only trees could be planted to beautify the area. Additionally the Jews would not have full control over the area. This meant that they would have no power to stop people from using the plaza for various activities, including the driving of mules, which would cause a disturbance to worshippers.<ref name=WHTE /> Other reports place the scheme's failure on Jewish infighting as to whether the plan would foster a detrimental Arab reaction.<ref>{{cite book |last=Stockman-Shomron |first=Israel |title=Israel, the Middle East and the Great Powers |year=1984 |publisher=Transaction Publishers |isbn=965-287-000-5 |page=43 |chapter=Jerusalem in Islam: Faith and Politics}}</ref>
[[File:Jew's Wailing Place, Jerusalem.jpg|thumb|Jews' Wailing Place, Jerusalem, 1891]]

In 1895 Hebrew linguist and publisher Rabbi [[Chaim Hirschensohn]] became entangled in a failed effort to purchase the Western Wall and lost all his assets.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tau.ac.il/humanities/bronfman/kesher29.heb.html|title=The Hirschensohn Family of Publishers in Jerusalem, 1882–1908|last=Lang|first=Yossef |work=Kesher Issue 29}}</ref> The attempts of the [[Israel Land Development Company|Palestine Land Development Company]] to purchase the environs of the Western Wall for the Jews just before the outbreak of World War I also never came to fruition.<ref name=ANT/> In the first two months following the Ottoman Empire's entry into the First World War, the Turkish governor of Jerusalem, Zakey Bey, offered to sell the Moroccan Quarter, which consisted of about 25 houses, to the Jews in order to enlarge the area available to them for prayer. He requested a sum of £20,000 which would be used to both rehouse the Muslim families and to create a public garden in front of the Wall. However, the Jews of the city lacked the necessary funds. A few months later, under Muslim Arab pressure on the Turkish authorities in Jerusalem, Jews became forbidden by official decree to place benches and light candles at the Wall. This sour turn in relations was taken up by the [[Chacham Bashi]] who managed to get the ban overturned.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gilbert |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Gilbert |title=Jerusalem in the Twentieth Century |year=1996 |publisher=[[Chatto & Windus]] |location=London |isbn=0-7011-3070-9 |page=42 |chapter=War, 1914–1917}}</ref> In 1915 it was reported that Djemal Pasha, closed off the wall to visitation as a sanitary measure.<ref name=Adv>{{cite book |title=The Advocate: America's Jewish journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s1ccAQAAMAAJ|access-date=January 3, 2012 |year=1915 |page=638 |quote=According to a report in the Jaffa Hebrew weekly, Hapoel Hazair, the Commander of the Turkish Army, Djemal Pasha, has ordered a barricade to be placed across the approach to the Wailing Wall to prevent this place from being visited by Jews. The order is said to be based on sanitary grounds.}}</ref> Probably meant was the "[[Djemal Pasha|Great]]", rather than the "[[Cemal Mersinli|Small]]" Djemal Pasha.

{{Clear left}}

Decrees (''[[firman]]'')s issued regarding the Wall:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Issued by
! Content
|-
| c. 1560
| style=white-space:nowrap| [[Suleiman the Magnificent]]
| Official recognition of the right of Jews to pray by the Wall<ref name=Armstrong08>{{harvnb|Armstrong|2001}} "In the 16th century, Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent permitted the Jews to make the Western Wall their official holy place and had his court architect Sinan build an oratory for them there."</ref><ref name=Gonen03>{{harvnb|Gonen|2003|pp=135–137}} "It is possible that official recognition of the right of Jews to pray by the Wall was granted already in the second half of the sixteenth century by a ''firman'' (official decree) issued by Suleiman the Magnificent. This firman may have been related to the efforts of the Ottoman ruler to lure Jews to Palestine as a counterbalance to the Arab population, which had rebelled against the new rulers, who were Turkish rather than Arabs."</ref>
|-
| 1840
| style=white-space:nowrap| [[Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt]]
| Forbidding the Jews to pave the passage in front of the Wall. It also cautioned them against "raising their voices and displaying their books there." They were, however, allowed "to pay visits to it as of old."<ref name=report1930 />
|-
| 1841*
| style=white-space:nowrap| [[Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt]]
| "Of the same bearing and likewise to two others of 1893 and 1909"<ref name=report1930 />
|-
| 1889*
| style=white-space:nowrap| [[Abdul Hamid II]]
| That there shall be no interference with the Jews' places of devotional visits and of pilgrimage, that are situated in the localities which are dependent on the Chief Rabbinate, nor with the practice of their ritual.<ref name=report1930 />
|-
| 1893*
| 
| Confirming firman of 1889<ref name=report1930/>
|-
| 1909*
| 
| Confirming firman of 1889<ref name=report1930/>
|-
| 1911
| style=white-space:nowrap| Administrative Council of the [[Liwa (Arabic)|Liwa]]
| Prohibiting the Jews from certain [[appurtenances]] at the Wall<ref name=report1930 />
|}

:* These firmans were cited by the Jewish contingent at the International Commission, 1930, as proof for rights at the Wall. Muslim authorities responded by arguing that historic sanctions of Jewish presence were [[Toleration|acts of tolerance]] shown by Muslims, who, by doing so, did not concede any [[Negative and positive rights|positive rights]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/9a798adbf322aff38525617b006d88d7/59a92104ed00dc468525625b00527fea?OpenDocument |title=Report of the Commission appointed by His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with the approval of the Council of the League of Nations, to determine the rights and claims of Moslems and Jews in connection with the Western or Wailing Wall at Jerusalem |date=December 1930 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=December 20, 2009}}</ref>

===British rule (1917–1948)===
[[File:Jewish legion hakotel 1917.jpg|thumb|right|[[Jewish Legion]] soldiers at the Western Wall after British conquest of Jerusalem, 1917]]
[[File:Historical images of the Western Wall - 1920 C SR 016b.JPG|thumb|right|1920. From the collection of the [[National Library of Israel]]]]

In December 1917, Allied forces under [[Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby|Edmund Allenby]] [[Battle of Jerusalem (1917)|captured Jerusalem]] from the Turks. Allenby pledged "that every sacred building, monument, holy spot, shrine, traditional site, endowment, pious bequest, or customary place of prayer of whatsoever form of the three religions will be maintained and protected according to the existing customs and beliefs of those to whose faith they are sacred".<ref>{{cite book |last=Janin |first=Hunt |title=Four Paths to Jerusalem |year=2002 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company|McFarland]] |isbn=0-7864-1264-X |page=192 |chapter=Pilgrimages During the British Mandate and Under the Israelis (1917–2001)
|url=https://archive.org/details/fourpathstojerus0000jani/page/}}</ref>

In 1919 Zionist leader [[Chaim Weizmann]] approached the British Military Governor of Jerusalem, Colonel [[Sir Ronald Storrs]], and offered between £75,000<ref name=MG>{{cite book |last=Gilbert |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Gilbert |title=Jerusalem in the Twentieth Century |year=1996 |publisher=[[Chatto & Windus]] |location=London |isbn=0-7011-3070-9 |page=69 |chapter=British Military Rule, 1918–1919}}</ref> and £100,000<ref name=BW>{{cite book |last=Wasserstein |first=Bernard |title=Divided Jerusalem |year=2001 |publisher=[[Profile Books]] |location=London |isbn=1-86197-333-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/dividedjerusalem0000wass/page/ 323] |chapter=Trouble on the Temple Mount|url=https://archive.org/details/dividedjerusalem0000wass/page/}}</ref> (approx. £5m in modern terms) to purchase the area at the foot of the Wall and rehouse the occupants. Storrs was enthusiastic about the idea because he hoped some of the money would be used to improve Muslim education. Although they appeared promising at first, negotiations broke down after strong Muslim opposition.<ref name=BW/><ref>{{cite book |last=Shepherd |first=Naomi |title=Ploughing Sand: British Rule in Palestine |year=1999 |publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]] |location=London |isbn=0-7195-5707-0 |page=42 |chapter=From Conquest to Colony}}</ref> Storrs wrote two decades later:
<blockquote>The acceptance of the proposals, had it been practicable, would have obviated years of wretched humiliations, including the befouling of the Wall and pavement and the unmannerly braying of the tragi-comic Arab band during Jewish prayer, and culminating in the horrible outrages of 1929.<ref name=MG /></blockquote>

In early 1920, the first Jewish-Arab dispute over the Wall occurred when the Muslim authorities were carrying out minor repair works to the Wall's upper courses. The Jews, while agreeing that the works were necessary, appealed to the British that they be made under supervision of the newly formed Department of Antiquities, because the Wall was an ancient relic.<ref>{{harvnb|Gonen|2003|p=}}</ref>

According to Hillel Halkin, in the 1920s, among rising tensions with the Jews regarding the wall, the Arabs ceased using the more traditional name El-Mabka, "the Place of Weeping", which related to Jewish practices, and replaced it with El-Burak, a name with Muslim connotations.<ref name=Halkin01 />

In 1926 an effort was made to lease the Maghrebi ''waqf'', which included the wall, with the plan of eventually buying it.<ref name=BWbook>{{cite book |author=Bernhard Wasserstein |title=The British in Palestine |year=1978 |publisher=Royal Historical Society |place=London |pages=224–227}}</ref> Negotiations were begun in secret by the Jewish judge [[Gad Frumkin]], with financial backing from American millionaire [[Nathan Straus]].<ref name=BWbook /> The chairman of the Palestine Zionist Executive, Colonel [[F. H. Kisch]], explained that the aim was "quietly to evacuate the Moroccan occupants of those houses which it would later be necessary to demolish" to create an open space with seats for aged worshippers to sit on.<ref name=BWbook /> However, Straus withdrew when the price became excessive and the plan came to nothing.<ref>{{cite book |author=Tom Segev |title=One Palestine, Complete |page=301 |publisher=Abacus |year=2001}}</ref> The [[Va'ad Leumi]], against the advice of the Palestine Zionist Executive, demanded that the British expropriate the wall and give it to the Jews, but the British refused.<ref name=BWbook />

In 1928 the [[World Zionist Organization]] reported that [[John Chancellor (British administrator)|John Chancellor]], High Commissioner of Palestine, believed that the Western Wall should come under Jewish control and wondered "why no great Jewish philanthropist had not bought it yet".<ref>{{cite book |last=Shepherd |first=Naomi |title=Ploughing Sand: British Rule in Palestine |year=1999 |publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]] |location=London |isbn=0-7195-5707-0 |page=11 |chapter=The Law Factory}}</ref>

====September 1928 disturbances====
In 1922, a Status Quo agreement issued by the mandatory authority forbade the placing of benches or chairs near the Wall. The last occurrence of such a ban was in 1915, but the Ottoman decree was soon retracted after intervention of the [[Chacham Bashi]]. In 1928 the District Commissioner of Jerusalem, [[Edward Keith-Roach]], acceded to an Arab request to implement the ban. This led to a British officer being stationed at the Wall making sure that Jews were prevented from sitting. Nor were Jews permitted to separate the sexes with a screen. In practice, a flexible [[modus vivendi]] had emerged and such screens had been put up from time to time when large numbers of people gathered to pray.
[[File:Kotel jerusalem.jpg|thumb|upright|The placing of a ''[[Mechitza]]'' similar to the one in the picture was the catalyst for confrontation between the Arabs, Jews and Mandate authorities in 1928.]]

On September 24, 1928, the [[Yom Kippur|Day of Atonement]], British police resorted to removing by force a [[Mechitza|screen]] used to separate men and women at prayer. Women who tried to prevent the screen being dismantled were beaten by the police, who used pieces of the broken wooden frame as clubs. Chairs were then pulled out from under elderly worshipers. The episode made international news and Jews the world over objected to the British action. [[Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld]], the Chief Rabbi of the [[Haredi]] Jews in Jerusalem, issued a protest letter on behalf of his community, the [[Edah HaChareidis]] and [[World Agudath Israel|Agudas Yisroel]], strongly condemning the desecration of the holy site. Various communal leaders called for a general strike. A large rally was held in the [[Etz Chaim Yeshiva]], following which an angry crowd attacked the local police station in which they believed [[Douglas Valder Duff]], the British officer involved, was sheltering.<ref name=GoJ>{{cite book |last=Danziger |first=Hillel |title=Guardian of Jerusalem |year=1990 |publisher=[[Artscroll]]|location=New York |isbn=0-89906-458-2 |pages=452–470 |chapter=The Kosel Affair}}</ref>

Commissioner Edward Keith-Roach described the screen as violating the [[Status Quo (Jerusalem and Bethlehem)|Ottoman status quo]] that forbade Jews from making any construction in the Western Wall area. He informed the Jewish community that the removal had been carried out under his orders after receiving a complaint from the [[Supreme Muslim Council]]. The Arabs were concerned that the Jews were trying to extend their rights at the wall and with this move, ultimately intended to take possession of the [[Temple Mount|Masjid Al-Aqsa]].<ref name=PYIL>{{cite book |last=Kassim |first=Anis F. |title=The Palestine Yearbook of International Law 1996–1997 |year=1998 |publisher=Martinus Nijhoff |isbn=90-411-1009-7 |page=375 |chapter=Special Report}}</ref> The British government issued an announcement explaining the incident and blaming the Jewish [[gabbai|beadle]] at the Wall. It stressed that the removal of the screen was necessary, but expressed regret over the ensuing events.<ref name=GoJ/>

A widespread Arab campaign to protest against presumed Jewish intentions and designs to take possession of the Al Aqsa Mosque swept the country and a "Society for the Protection of the Muslim Holy Places" was established.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kayyālī |first=Abd al-Wahhāb |title=Palestine: A Modern History |year=1978 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=0-85664-635-0 |page=139 |chapter=The Lull: 1923–1929}}</ref> The [[Jewish National Council]] (Vaad Leumi) responding to these Arab fears declared in a statement that "We herewith declare emphatically and sincerely that no Jew has ever thought of encroaching upon the rights of Moslems over their own Holy places, but our Arab brethren should also recognise the rights of Jews in regard to the places in Palestine which are holy to them."<ref name=PYIL /> The committee also demanded that the British administration expropriate the wall for the Jews.<ref name=OR>{{cite book |last=Ovendale |first=Ritchie |title=The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Wars |year=2004 |publisher=Pearson Education |isbn=0-582-82320-X |page=71 |chapter=British Paramountcy over Arabs and Zionists}}</ref>

From October 1928 onward, Mufti [[Amin al-Husayni]] organised a series of measures to demonstrate the Arabs' exclusive claims to the Temple Mount and its environs. He ordered new construction next to and above the Western Wall.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dershowitz |first=Alan |author-link=Alan Dershowitz |title=The Case For Israel |year=2003 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |location=[[Hoboken, New Jersey]] |isbn=0-471-46502-X |page=43 |chapter=5: Were the Jews Unwilling to Share Palestine?
|url=https://archive.org/details/caseforisraelders00ders}}</ref> The British granted the Arabs permission to convert a building adjoining the Wall into a mosque and to add a minaret. A [[muezzin]] was appointed to perform the [[adhan|Islamic call to prayer]] and [[dhikr|Sufi rites]] directly next to the Wall. These were seen as a provocation by the Jews who prayed at the Wall.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ovendale |first=Ritchie |title=The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Wars |year=2004 |publisher=[[Pearson Education]] |isbn=0-582-82320-X |page=71 |chapter=The "Wailing Wall" Riots |quote=The Mufti tried to establish Muslim rights and the Jews were deliberately antagonised by building works and noise.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Harman |first=Graham |title=A History of Palestine |year=2008 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |isbn=978-0-691-11897-0 |page=230 |chapter=The Mufti and the Wailing Wall |quote=From 1929 onward, the Supreme Muslim Council intensified construction work on the Haram al-Sharif in order to demonstrate their exclusive claims to the Temple Mount (...) Not without reason, Jewish believers felt disturbed in their prayer. |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofpalesti00krea/page/}}</ref> The Jews protested and tensions increased.
[[File:Western Wall Jerusalem 1933.jpg|thumb|upright|British police post at the entrance to the Western Wall, 1933]]
[[File:British police wailing wall1.jpg|thumb|upright|British police at the Wailing Wall, 1934]]

A British inquiry into the disturbances and investigation regarding the principal issue in the Western Wall dispute, namely the rights of the Jewish worshipers to bring appurtenances to the wall, was convened. The Supreme Muslim Council provided documents dating from the Turkish regime supporting their claims. However, repeated reminders to the Chief Rabbinate to verify which apparatus had been permitted failed to elicit any response. They refused to do so, arguing that Jews had the right to pray at the Wall without restrictions.<ref name=VI>{{cite book |last1=Ben Dov |first1=Meir |last2=Naor |first2=Mordechai |last3=Aner |first3=Ze'ev |title=The Western Wall |year=1983 |publisher=Ministry of Defence Publishing House |location=[[Israel]] |isbn=965-05-0055-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/westernwall00bend/page/ 123–137] |chapter=VI: The Struggle for the Wall |url=https://archive.org/details/westernwall00bend/page/}}</ref> Subsequently, in November 1928, the Government issued a White Paper entitled "The Western or Wailing Wall in Jerusalem: Memorandum by the Secretary of State for the Colonies", which emphasised the maintenance of the ''status quo'' and instructed that Jews could only bring "those accessories which had been permitted in Turkish times."<ref>{{cite web |title='File 15/18 Foreign and Political Department Circulars Received From the Govt of India' IOR/R/15/2/1461|url=http://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023731157.0x000010|publisher=Qatar Digital Library|date=August 29, 2014}}</ref>

A few months later, Haj Amin complained to [[John Chancellor (British administrator)|Chancellor]] that "Jews were bringing benches and tables in increased numbers to the wall and driving nails into the wall and hanging lamps on them."<ref>{{cite book |last=Kayyālī |first=Abd al-Wahhāb |title=Palestine: A Modern History |year=1978 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=0-85664-635-0 |page=140 |chapter=The Lull: 1923–1929}}</ref>

====1929 Palestine riots====
:{{Main|1929 Palestine riots}}
In the summer of 1929, the Mufti [[Amin al-Husseini|Haj Amin Al Husseinni]] ordered an opening be made at the southern end of the alleyway which straddled the Wall. The former cul-de-sac became a thoroughfare which led from the Temple Mount into the prayer area at the Wall. Mules were herded through the narrow alley, often dropping excrement. This, together with other construction projects in the vicinity, and restricted access to the Wall, resulted in Jewish protests to the British, who remained indifferent.<ref name=VI />

On August 14, 1929, after attacks on individual Jews praying at the Wall, 6,000 Jews demonstrated in Tel Aviv, shouting "The Wall is ours." The next day, the Jewish fast of [[Tisha B'Av]], 300 youths raised the Zionist flag and sang [[Hatikva]] at the Wall.<ref name=OR /> The day after, on August 16, an organized mob of 2,000 Muslim Arabs descended on the Western Wall, injuring the beadle and burning prayer books, liturgical fixtures and notes of supplication. The rioting spread to the Jewish commercial area of town, and was followed a few days later by the [[1929 Hebron massacre|Hebron massacre]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Gilbert |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Gilbert |title=Jerusalem llustrated History Atlas |year=1977 |publisher=[[Board of Deputies of British Jews]] |location=London |isbn=0-905648-04-8 |page=79 |chapter=Jerusalem, Zionism and the Arab Revolt 1920–1940}}</ref> One hundred and thirty-three Jews were killed and 339 injured in the Arab riots, and in the subsequent process of quelling the riots 110 Arabs were killed by British police. This was by far the deadliest attack on Jews during the period of British Rule over Palestine.

====1930 international commission====
{{Main|International Commission for the Wailing Wall}}
In 1930, in response to the 1929 riots, the British Government appointed a commission "to determine the rights and claims of Muslims and Jews in connection with the Western or Wailing Wall", and to determine the causes of the violence and prevent it in the future. The [[League of Nations]] approved the commission on condition that the members were not British.

The Commission noted that "the Jews do not claim any proprietorship to the Wall or to the Pavement in front of it (concluding speech of Jewish Counsel, Minutes, page 908)."
[[File:Anglo-American Committee at the Western Wall.jpg|thumb|Members of the [[Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry]] at the Western Wall, 1946]]

The Commission concluded that the wall, and the adjacent pavement and Moroccan Quarter, were solely owned by the Muslim ''[[Jerusalem Islamic Waqf|waqf]]''. However, Jews had the right to "free access to the Western Wall for the purpose of devotions at all times", subject to some stipulations that limited which objects could be brought to the Wall and forbade the blowing of the [[shofar]], which was made illegal. Muslims were forbidden to disrupt Jewish devotions by driving animals or other means.<ref name=report1930/>

The recommendations of the Commission were brought into law by the Palestine (Western or Wailing Wall) Order in Council, 1931, which came into effect on June 8, 1931.<ref name=Gaz31>Palestine (Western or Wailing Wall) Order in Council, 1931, ''Official Gazette of the Government of Palestine, Gazette Extraordinary'' (Suppl. No. 8/1931), June 8, 1931, pp. 464–468; also printed in ''The Palestine Yearbook of International Law'', Vol. 9, Iss. 1, pp. 411ff.</ref> Persons violating the law were liable to a fine of 50 pounds or imprisonment up to 6 months, or both.<ref name=Gaz31 />

During the 1930s, at the conclusion of Yom Kippur, young Jews persistently flouted the shofar ban each year and blew the shofar resulting in their arrest and prosecution. They were usually fined or sentenced to imprisonment for three to six months. The Shaw commission determined that the violence occurred due to "racial animosity on the part of the Arabs, consequent upon the disappointment of their political and national aspirations and fear for their economic future."

===Jordanian rule (1948–1967)===
During the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]] the Old City together with the Wall was [[Jordanian annexation of the West Bank|controlled by Jordan]]. Article VIII of the [[1949 Armistice Agreements#With Jordan|1949 Armistice Agreement]] called for a Special Committee to make arrangements for (amongst other things) "free access to the Holy Places and cultural institutions and use of the cemetery on the Mount of Olives".<ref>Yale Avalon Project, https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/arm03.asp [https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/arm03.asp Israel-Jordan Armistice Agreement].</ref> The committee sat multiple times during 1949, but both sides made additional demands and at the same time the [[Palestine Conciliation Commission]] was pressing for the internationalization of Jerusalem against the wishes of both parties.<ref name=BenDror>{{cite journal |first1=Elad |last1=Ben-Dror |first2=Asaf |last2=Ziedler |title=Israel, Jordan, and their Efforts to Frustrate the United Nations Resolutions to Internationalise Jerusalem |journal=Diplomacy & Statecraft |year=2015 |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=636–658 |doi=10.1080/09592296.2015.1096685 |s2cid=155549524}}</ref> No agreement was ever reached, leading to recriminations in both directions. Neither Israeli Arabs nor Israeli Jews could visit their holy places in the Jordanian territories.<ref name=Gilbert254>Martin Gilbert, ''Jerusalem in the Twentieth Century'' (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1996) p. 254.</ref><ref name=Israeli23>{{cite book |last=Israeli |first=Raphael |title=Jerusalem Divided: The Armistice Regime, 1947–1967 |year=2002 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=[[Jerusalem]] |isbn=0-7146-5266-0 |page=23 |chapter=Introduction: Everyday Life in Divided Jerusalem}}</ref> An exception was made for Christians to participate in Christmas ceremonies in Bethlehem.<ref name=Israeli23/> Some sources claim Jews could only visit the wall if they traveled through Jordan (which was not an option for Israelis) and did not have an Israeli visa stamped in their passports.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ross |first=Marc Howard |title=Cultural Contestation in Ethnic Conflict |year=2007 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-87013-9 |page=179 |chapter=Digging up the past to contest the present: politics and archeology in Jerusalem’s Old City}}</ref> Only Jordanian soldiers and tourists were to be found there. A vantage point on [[Mount Zion]], from which the Wall could be viewed, became the place where Jews gathered to pray. For thousands of pilgrims, the mount, being the closest location to the Wall under Israeli control, became a substitute site for the traditional [[priestly blessing]] ceremony which takes place on the [[Shalosh regalim|Three Pilgrimage Festivals]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Israeli |first=Raphael |title=Jerusalem Divided: The Armistice Regime, 1947–1967 |year=2002 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=[[Jerusalem]] |isbn=0-7146-5266-0 |page=6 |chapter=Introduction: Everyday Life in Divided Jerusalem}}</ref>

===="Al Buraq (Wailing Wall) Rd" sign====
During the Jordanian rule of the Old City, a ceramic street sign in Arabic and English was affixed to the stones of the ancient wall. Attached {{convert|2.1|m|ft}} up, it was made up of eight separate ceramic tiles and said ''Al Buraq Road'' in Arabic at the top with the English "Al-Buraq (Wailing Wall) Rd" below. When Israeli soldiers arrived at the wall in June 1967, one attempted to scrawl Hebrew lettering on it.<ref name=Narkiss70>{{cite book |author=Bezalel Narkiss|title=Picture History of Jewish Civilization|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oWKFAAAAIAAJ|access-date=May 19, 2011|year=1970|publisher=H. N. Abrams|page=241|isbn=9780810904002|quote=An Israeli soldier writes the Hebrew name on a street sign, which had previously had only Arabic and English lettering identifying the location as Wailing Wall Road.}}</ref> ''[[The Jerusalem Post]]'' reported that on June 8, Ben-Gurion went to the wall and "looked with distaste" at the road sign; "this is not right, it should come down" and he proceeded to dismantle it.<ref name=Kuwayt>{{cite book |author1=Jāmiʻat al-Kuwayt|author2=Institute for Palestine Studies (Washington, D.C.)|author3=Muʾassasat al-Dirāsāt al-Filasṭīnīyah|title=Journal of Palestine studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EmoMAQAAMAAJ|access-date=May 19, 2011|year=1972|publisher=University of California Press for Kuwait University and the Institute for Palestine Studies|page=187}}</ref> This act signaled the climax of the capture of the Old City and the ability of Jews to once again access their holiest sites.<ref name=בר2007>{{cite book |author=דורון בר|title=לקדש ארץ|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D3JtAAAAMAAJ|access-date=May 19, 2011|year=2007|publisher=יד יצחק בן צבי|page=207|isbn=9789652172686|quote=The symbolic removal of a sign placed by the Jordanians in English and Arabic, which referred to the Western Wall plaza as al-Buraq, was part of the process of 'Judaization' and return of the site to the status of the most important holy place of the Jewish people, and now the most holy place inside Israel.}}</ref> Emotional recollections of this event are related by [[David Ben-Gurion]] and [[Shimon Peres]].<ref name=PL95>{{cite book |author1=Shimon Peres |author2=David Landau |title=Battling for peace: a memoir |url=https://archive.org/details/battlingforpeace00pere |url-access=registration |access-date=May 18, 2011 |year=1995 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0-679-43617-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/battlingforpeace00pere/page/94 94]}}</ref>

===First years under Israeli rule (1967–1969)===
====Declarations after the conquest====
[[File:צנחנים בכותל המערבי.jpg|thumb|right|The iconic image of Israeli soldiers shortly after the capture of the Wall during the [[Six-Day War]]]]

Following Israel's victory during the 1967 [[Six-Day War]], the Western Wall came under Israeli control. Brigadier Rabbi [[Shlomo Goren]] proclaimed after its capture that "Israel would never again relinquish the Wall", a stance supported by Israeli Minister for Defence [[Moshe Dayan]] and Chief of Staff General [[Yitzhak Rabin]].<ref name=JR67>{{cite book |author1=Maurice David Japheth |author2=P. K. Rajiv |title=The Arab Israel conflict: an Indian viewpoint |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3qm7AAAAIAAJ |year=1967 |publisher=Pearl Publications |page=19 |quote=The Chief Chaplain of the Army, Brigadier (Rabbi) Goren, offered prayers for four hours at the Wall. He proclaimed that Israel would never again relinquish the Wall. A little later, the Minister for Defence, Moshe Dayan, accompanied by the Chief of Staff, General Yitzhak Rabin, arrived. They repeated the pledge of the Rabbi. "Today we have reunited Jerusalem. We have returned to all that is holy in our land. We have returned, never to be parted from it again," Dayan said.}}</ref> Rabin described the moment Israeli soldiers reached the Wall:

<blockquote>"There was one moment in the Six-Day War which symbolized the great victory: that was the moment in which the first paratroopers—under [[Mordechai Gur|Gur]]'s command—reached the stones of the Western Wall, feeling the emotion of the place; there never was, and never will be, another moment like it. Nobody staged that moment. Nobody planned it in advance. Nobody prepared it and nobody was prepared for it; it was as if Providence had directed the whole thing: the paratroopers weeping—loudly and in pain—over their comrades who had fallen along the way, the words of the [[Kaddish]] prayer heard by Western Wall's stones after 19 years of silence, tears of mourning, shouts of joy, and the singing of '[[Hatikvah]]'".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Foreign+Relations/Israels+Foreign+Relations+since+1947/1995-1996/Address+to+the+Knesset+by+Prime+Minister+Rabin+on+Jerusalem.htm |title=Address to the Knesset by Prime Minister Rabin on Jerusalem, May 29, 1995 |last=Rabin |first=Yitzchak |date=May 29, 1995 |publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs}}</ref></blockquote>

====Demolition of the Moroccan Quarter====
[[File:Western Wall area and Moroccan Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem map by Survey of Palestine map 1-2,500 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Moroccan Quarter (cell J9) surrounding the Western Wall (numbered 62) in the 1947 [[Survey of Palestine]] map. The two mosques demolished after 1967 are shown in red.]]

Forty-eight hours after capturing the wall, the military, without explicit government order,{{sfn|Gorenberg|2007|p=45}} hastily proceeded to demolish the entire [[Moroccan Quarter]], which stood {{convert|4|m}} from the Wall.<ref>Joost R. Hiltermann, 'Teddy Kollek and the Native Question,' in Annelies Moors, Toine van Teeffelen, Sharif Kanaana, Ilham Abu Ghazaleh (eds.) [https://books.google.com/books?id=FsjgmSPiWvsC&pg=PA55 ''Discourse and Palestine: Power, Text and Context''], Het Spinhuis, 1995 pp. 55–65 [55–56]</ref> The Sheikh Eid Mosque, built on the site of one of Jerusalem's earliest [[madrassa|Islamic schools]] (the ''Afdiliyyah''), was pulled down to make way for the plaza.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kedar |first1=Benjamin Z. |last2=Weksler-Bdolah |first2=Shlomit |last3=Da'ādli |first3=Tawfiq |date=2012 |title=The Madrasa Afḍaliyya / Maqām Al-Shaykh 'Īd: An Example of Ayyubid Architecture in Jerusalem |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44092161 |journal=Revue Biblique (1946-) |volume=119 |issue=2 |pages=271–287 |jstor=44092161 |issn=0035-0907}}</ref> 106 Arab families consisting of 650 people were ordered to leave their homes at night. When they refused, bulldozers began to demolish the buildings with people still inside, killing one person and injuring a number of others.<ref>{{cite book |author=Tom Segev |title=1967 |publisher=Metropolitan Books |year=2007 |pages=400–401}}</ref><ref>Ari Shavit,[https://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/jerusalem-born-thinker-meron-benvenisti-has-a-message-for-israelis-stop-whining.premium-1.469447 'Jerusalem-born thinker Meron Benvenisti has a message for Israelis: Stop whining,'] ''[[Haaretz]]'', October 11, 2012.</ref><ref>[[Gershom Gorenberg]], ''The End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount''. Oxford University Press, 2002 p. 102.</ref><ref>[[Henry Cattan]], ''The Palestine Question'', Taylor & Francis, 1988 p. 256.</ref>

According to [[Eyal Weizman]], [[Chaim Herzog]], who later became Israel's sixth president, took much of the credit for the destruction of the neighbourhood:

<blockquote>When we visited the Wailing Wall we found a toilet attached to it ... we decided to remove it and from this we came to the conclusion that we could evacuate the entire area in front of the Wailing Wall ... a historical opportunity that will never return. ... We knew that the following Saturday [sic Wednesday], June 14, would be the Jewish festival of [[Shavuot]] and that many will want to come to pray ... it all had to be completed by then.<ref>{{cite book |last=Weizman |first=Eyal |title=Hollow Land |year=2007 |publisher=[[Verso Books|Verso]] |location=London |isbn=978-1-84467-125-0 |page=38|url=https://archive.org/details/hollowlandisrael00weiz}}</ref></blockquote>

The narrow pavement, which could accommodate a maximum of 12,000 per day, was transformed into an enormous plaza that could hold in excess of 400,000.<ref>{{cite book |last=Teller |first=Matthew |title=Nine Quarters of Jerusalem |year=2022 |publisher=[[Other Press]] |isbn=978-1-6354-2335-8 |chapter=12}}</ref> Several months later, the pavement close to the wall was excavated to a depth of two and half metres, exposing an additional two courses of large stones.<ref>{{cite book |author=Meron Benvenisti |title=Jerusalem: the Torn City |year=1976 |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |pages=312–313}}</ref>

A complex of buildings against the wall at the southern end of the plaza, that included Madrasa Fakhriya and the house that the Abu al-Sa'ud family had occupied since the 16th century, were spared in the 1967 destruction, but demolished in 1969.<ref name=Ricca2007>{{cite book | author = Simone Ricca | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Cbd1ALFq9hAC&dq=simone+ricca+fakhiriya&pg=PA67 | publisher = I.B. Taurus | pages = 67–113 | title = Reinventing Jerusalem: Israel's Reconstruction of the Jewish Quarter after 1967 | date=May 25, 2007 | isbn=978-1-84511-387-2 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Unearthing Jerusalem: 150 Years of Archaeological Research in the Holy City |editor=Gideon Avni and Katharina Galor |chapter=Mamluk and Ottoman Jerusalem |author=Robert Schick |pages=475–490}}</ref> The section of the wall dedicated to prayers was thus extended southwards to double its original length, from {{convert|28|to|60|m}}, while the {{convert|4|m}} space facing the wall grew to {{convert|40|m}}.

The narrow, approximately {{convert|120|m2}} pre-1948 alley along the wall, used for Jewish prayer, was enlarged to {{convert|2400|m2}}, with the entire Western Wall Plaza covering {{convert|20000|m2|acre}}, stretching from the wall to the Jewish Quarter.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jerusalemquarterly.org/ViewArticle.aspx?id=104 |title=Heritage, Nationalism and the Shifting Symbolism of the Wailing Wall; June 1967: Erasing The Past |last=Ricca |first=Simone |date=Summer 2005 |publisher=[[Institute for Palestine Studies|Institute of Jerusalem (Palestine) Studies]]}}</ref>

==Plaza==
The new plaza created in 1967 is used for worship and public gatherings, including [[Bar mitzvah]] celebrations and the swearing-in ceremonies of newly full-fledged soldiers in the [[Israel Defense Forces]]. Tens of thousands of Jews flock to the wall on the Jewish holidays, and particularly on the fast of [[Tisha B'Av]], which marks the destruction of the Temple and on [[Yom Yerushalayim|Jerusalem Day]], which commemorates the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967 and the delivery of the Wall into Jewish hands.

In November 2010, the government approved a NIS 85 million ($23 million) plan to improve access from the Jewish Quarter and upgrade infrastructure at the Wall.<ref>[https://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-approves-23-million-plan-to-renovate-near-western-wall-1.325927 Israel approves $23 million plan to renovate near Western Wall], ''Haartez'', (November 21, 2010).</ref>

===Orthodox rules===
Conflicts over prayer at the national monument began a little more than a year after Israel's victory in the Six-Day War, which again made the site accessible to Jews. In July 1968 the [[World Union for Progressive Judaism]], which had planned the group's international convention in Jerusalem, appealed to the [[Knesset]] after the Ministry of Religious Affairs prohibited the organization from hosting mixed-gender services at the Wall. The Knesset committee on internal affairs backed the Ministry of Religious Affairs in disallowing the Jewish convention attendees, who had come from over 24 countries, from worshiping in their fashion. The Orthodox held that services at the Wall should follow traditional Jewish law for segregated seating followed in synagogues, while the non-Orthodox perspective was that "the Wall is a shrine of all Jews, not one particular branch of Judaism."<ref name= jta>[https://www.jta.org/2015/04/24/news-opinion/the-telegraph/from-the-archive-when-the-western-wall-battles-began From the Archive: First rumblings in the battle for pluralism at the Western Wall] JTA, April 24, 2015.</ref>

==Wilson's Arch area==
===Archaeology===
{{Main|Wilson's Arch (Jerusalem)}}

===Transformation into worship area===
[[File:Jerusalem Western Wall BW 2.JPG|thumb|right|Torah Ark inside men's section of Wilson's Arch]]

In September 1983, U.S. Sixth Fleet Chaplain, Rabbi [[Arnold Resnicoff]] was allowed to hold an unusual interfaith service—the first interfaith service ever conducted at the Wall during the time it was under Israeli control—that included men and women sitting together. The ten-minute service included the [[Priestly Blessing]], recited by Resnicoff, who is a [[Kohen]]. A Ministry of Religions representative was present, responding to press queries that the service was authorized as part of a special welcome for the U.S. Sixth Fleet.<ref>''Jerusalem Post'', Sep 5, 1983, and ''Jerusalem Post'' International Edition, Sep 11–17, 1983, "U.S. Navy Chaplain Conducts Western Wall Interfaith Litany"</ref><ref>[http://www.sptimes.com/News/122901/news_pf/NorthPinellas/Lion__lamb_reside_in_.shtml ''St Petersburg Times''], retrieved March 25, 2011</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/the-day-in-1983-when-the-israeli-government-gave-its-blessing-to-a-mixed-gender-prayer-service-at-the-western-wall |title= The day Israel gave its blessing to egalitarian prayer at Western Wall |newspaper= Times of Israel}}</ref>

In 2005, the [[Western Wall Heritage Foundation]] initiated a major renovation effort under Rabbi-of-the-Wall [[Shmuel Rabinovitch]]. Its goal was to renovate and restructure the area within [[Wilson's Arch (Jerusalem)|Wilson's Arch]], the covered area to the left of worshipers facing the Wall in the open prayer plaza, in order to increase access for visitors and for prayer.<ref name= kotel>[http://english.thekotel.org/today/article.asp?ArticleID=3 English.thekotel.org TheKotel.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724161019/http://english.thekotel.org/today/article.asp?ArticleID=3 |date=July 24, 2011 }}, retrieved March 11, 2011.</ref><ref>[http://www.iaa-conservation.org.il/Projects_Item_eng.asp?id=49&subject_id=10&site_id=3 iaa-conservation.org], retrieved March 11, 2011.</ref>

The restoration of the men's section included a [[Torah ark]] that can house over 100 [[Torah scroll]]s, in addition to new bookshelves, a library, heating for the winter, and air conditioning for the summer.<ref name= kotel/> A new room was also built for the scribes who maintain and preserve the Torah scrolls used at the Wall.<ref name= kotel/> New construction also included a women's section,<ref>[http://english.thekotel.org/today/Event.asp?EventId=803&CatId=2 The Kotel, note about May 25, 2006.], retrieved March 11, 2011. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724161100/http://english.thekotel.org/today/Event.asp?EventId=803&CatId=2 |date=July 24, 2011}}</ref> overlooking the men's prayer area, so that women could use this separate area to "take part in the services held inside under the Arch" for the first time.<ref>[http://english.thekotel.org/today/Event.asp?EventId=628&CatId=4 English.TheKotel.org], retrieved March 24, 2011. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724161119/http://english.thekotel.org/today/Event.asp?EventId=628&CatId=4 |date=July 24, 2011}}</ref>

On July 25, 2010, a ''[[ner tamid]]'', an oil-burning "eternal light," was installed within the prayer hall within Wilson's Arch, the first eternal light installed in the area of the Western Wall.<ref name= ner>[http://english.thekotel.org/today/Event.asp?EventId=2715&CatId=4 Thekotel.org, note for July 25, 2010], retrieved March 12, 2011. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724161214/http://english.thekotel.org/today/Event.asp?EventId=2715&CatId=4 |date= July 24, 2011}}</ref> According to the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, requests had been made for many years that "an olive oil lamp be placed in the prayer hall of the Western Wall Plaza, as is the custom in Jewish synagogues, to represent the menorah of the Temple in Jerusalem as well as the continuously burning fire on the altar of burnt offerings in front of the Temple," especially in the closest place to those ancient flames.<ref name= ner/>
[[File:USNAVY Kotel Service.jpg|thumb|Asst. U.S. Sixth Fleet Chaplain [[Arnold Resnicoff|Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff]] leads an unusual interfaith service]]

A number of special worship events have been held since the renovation. They have taken advantage of the cover, temperature control,<ref name= night>[http://english.thekotel.org/today/Event.asp?EventId=131&CatId=4 The Kotel.org, note on February 3, 2006.], retrieved March 13, 2011. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724160935/http://english.thekotel.org/today/Event.asp?EventId=131&CatId=4 |date= July 24, 2011}}</ref> and enhanced security.<ref name= pope>[http://english.thekotel.org/today/article.asp?ArticleID=80 TheKotel.org, Lag B'omer 2009], retrieved March 13, 2011. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724160944/http://english.thekotel.org/today/article.asp?ArticleID=80 |date= July 24, 2011}}</ref>

==Robinson's Arch area==
===Archaeology===
{{Main|Robinson's Arch}}
[[File:The remains of Robinson's Arch on the western side of the Temple Mount.jpg|thumb|The remains of Robinson's Arch above excavated remnants of the ancient street below.]]

At the southern end of the Western Wall, Robinson's Arch along with a row of vaults once supported stairs ascending from the street to the Temple Mount.<ref name=virtual>[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Archaeology/Robinsons_Arch.html Jewish Virtual Library], retrieved March 26, 2011.</ref>{{better source needed|date=December 2022}}

The so-called Isaiah Stone, located under Robinson's Arch, has a carved inscription in Hebrew with a partial and slightly faulty quote from (or [[paraphrase]] of) {{bibleverse|Isaiah|66:14}}: "And you will see and your heart will rejoice and ''their'' bones like an herb [will flourish]" (the correct line from Isaiah would read "... ''your'' bones".) This gave room to various interpretations, some speculating about it being written during a period of hope for Jews. Alternatively, it might be connected to nearby graves. The inscription has tentatively been dated to the 4th–8th century, some extending the possible timespan all the way to the 11th century.<ref>{{cite book |first=Jack |last=Friedman |title=The Jerusalem Book of Quotations: A 3,000-Year Perspective |page=27 |publisher=Gefen Publishing House |year=2007 |isbn=978-9652293923 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4E3fG3uGgbYC&pg=PA27 |access-date=1 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1=Hannah M. Cotton |display-editors=etal |chapter=790. Hebrew graffito quotig Isaiah 66,14, 4 c. CE (?) |title=Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae: Jerusalem, Part 2: 705–1120 |pages=95–96 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |year=2012 |isbn=978-3110251906 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2cfmBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA95 |access-date=1 August 2019}}</ref>

===Non-Orthodox worship area===
{{Main|Western Wall#Egalitarian and non-Orthodox prayer}}
Because it does not come under the direct control of the Rabbi of the Wall or the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the site has been opened to religious groups that hold worship services that would not be approved by the Rabbi of the Western Wall or the Ministry of Religious Affairs in the major men's and women's prayer areas against the Wall.<ref name= virtual/>{{better source needed|date=December 2022}} The worship site was inaugurated in 2004 and has since hosted services by Reform and Conservative groups, as well as services by the Women of the Wall.<ref name= NYT13>{{cite web |last= Kershner |first= Isabel |title= Court Rules for Women in Western Wall Dispute |date= April 11, 2013 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/12/world/middleeast/israeli-court-rules-for-women-at-western-wall.html |work=The New York Times}}</ref> A platform has been added in 2013 in order to expand the prayer area.<ref name= platform/>

==In Judaism==
===History as place of prayer===
Jews were banned from Jerusalem by the Roman authorities after the [[Second Jewish revolt]] (2nd century CE) and, although there are intermittent accounts of limited [[9th of Av]] services on the Temple Mount, no sources from before the 7th-century Islamic conquest attest to any other Jewish services allowed near the Mount and many report that none were permitted. Sources conflict with regard to the Mount's status under Islamic rule, but Karaite commentator [[Salmon ben Jeroham]] ({{Circa|950}} CE) reports that Jews were initially granted wide access to the Mount, then restricted to gathering near "one of its gates", then banned entirely before his own time.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Neubauer |first=Adolf |title=Aus der Petersburger Bibliothek: Beiträge und Documente zur Geschichte des Karäerthums und der karäischen Literatur |trans-title= From the Petersburg Library: Contributions and Documents on the History of the Karaites and Karaite Literature |page= 109 |date=1866 |publisher=Oskar Leiner |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lUFDAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA109}} Document in [[Judeo-Arabic]], Hebrew script.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Mann |first=Jacob |author-link=Jacob Mann |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6muQAAAAIAAJ |title=Texts and Studies in Jewish History and Literature: Ḳaraitica |date=1972 |publisher=Ktav Publishing House |isbn=978-0-87068-085-4 |page=19}}</ref>

====10th–12th centuries====
However, a synagogue was apparently founded by the Western Wall (in the broader sense) shortly after the time of Salmon. The [[Ahimaaz ben Paltiel#Chronicle of Ahimaaz |Scroll of Ahimaaz]], a historical chronicle written in 1050 CE, describes:<blockquote>Samuel his son arose to replace [Paltiel], and this great man filled his father's place [in {{Circa|980}} CE] ... [He] dedicated 20,000 golden [[Ancient drachma| drachmas]] to the One Who Dwells on High, to entreat the favor of the Rider of Clouds. These were alms for the poor...; oil for the synagogue in the western wall, for [the lamps on] its ''[[bema]]'' ...<ref>{{Cite journal |last= Yahuda |first= Yitzhak Yehezkel |date= 1928 |title= כתל המערבי |trans-title= The Western Wall |lang= he |journal=[[Zion (journal) |Zion]] |volume= 3 |pages= 120–121 |jstor= 23539724 |issn= 0792-528X |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23539724}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last= Dinaburg |first= Ben-Zion |author-link= Ben-Zion Dinur |date=1928 |title= 'בית תפילה ומדרש' ליהודים על הר־הבית בימי הערבים |trans-title= 'A House of Prayer and Study' for Jews on the Temple Mount in the Days of the Arabs |lang= he |journal=[[Zion (journal) |Zion]] |volume=3 |pages= 62–63 |jstor= 23539722 |issn= 0792-528X |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23539722}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title= מגילת אחימעץ |trans-title= The Scroll of Ahimaaz |lang= he |website= HebrewBooks.org  |page=47 |url= https://hebrewbooks.org/38867 |access-date= 2024-02-15}}</ref></blockquote>This account of Jewish prayer at the edge of the Mount in confirmed by [[Daniel ben Azariah]], who writes ({{Circa|1055}} CE) that Jews were then permitted to "pray near the Mount's gates".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mann |first=Jacob |author-link=Jacob Mann |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E3ra5sWmaqkC&pg=PP7 |title=The Jews in Egypt and in Palestine Under the Fāṭimid Caliphs: A Contribution to Their Political and Communal History Based Chiefly on Genizah Material Hitherto Unpublished |date=1920 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=46}}</ref>

In 1099 CE the Crusader army [[Siege of Jerusalem (1099)| captured Jerusalem]], killing almost every Jew inside, and banned Jewish pilgrims from approaching the Mount. In his ''Scroll of Revelation'' ({{Circa|1125}} CE), [[Abraham bar Hiyya]] records that:<ref>{{Cite web |author=[[Abraham bar Hiyya]] |title=מגלת המגלה |trans-title= Scroll of the Revealer (Megilat ha-Megaleh) |lang= he |website= hebrewbooks.org |pages= 99–100 |url= https://hebrewbooks.org/6263}}</ref><blockquote>... the Romans who destroyed the Temple in the days of the evil [[Titus]], though they despoiled its sanctuary, never claimed any ownership of the holy Mount or any need to pray there. But ever since the evil [[Constantine the Great| Constantine]] converted to Christianity, they have begun to make these claims ... Since [1099 CE] the Christians have desecrated the Mount, made the citadel their church, brought their idols within it, and prevented Jews from praying there. Ever since those villains took over the Mount, no Jew has been allowed to enter it, and none are to be found in all Jerusalem.</blockquote>
[[File:Western_Wall_in_Florence_Scroll.jpg|thumb|Western Wall in the "Florence Scroll", a {{Circa|1315}} Jewish pilgrimage guide. The Gates of Mercy are shown adjacent or perhaps as part of the wall.<ref>צרפתי, רחל, ואלחנן ריינר. ''מגילת פירנצה : ייצוג מוקדם של המסורת החזותית של תיאור המקומות הקדושים''. אוניברסיטת תל-אביב, 2016.</ref>]]
In another reversal by {{Circa|1167}} CE, during the later [[Kingdom of Jerusalem |Crusader period]], the Western Wall was reopened to Jewish prayer. [[Benjamin of Tudela]] attests:<blockquote>. . . and the Gate of [[Jehoshaphat]], which faced the Temple in ancient times. There is the ''[[Templum Domini |Templi Domini]],'' which is the site of the Temple, and on it is a large and very beautiful dome built by [[Umar]] bin al-Khataab. Although they come to pray, the gentiles do not bring any images or effigies onto the site. And in front of this place is the western wall, which was one of the walls in{{Efn|The exact meaning of this phrase (אחד מן הכתלים שהיו [נ"א +במקדש] בקדש הקדשים ''which was one of the walls'' [1 MS: +''in the Temple''] ''in the holy of holies'') is obscure, confused by the preposition ב ''in''. Most translators emend to "of the [[Holy of Holies]]," but Yisrael Ariel argues that the meaning of ''Qodesh haqQodashim'' ({{lit|Holy of Holies}}) had expanded to include a larger portion of the site, just as had those of ''haBayyit hagGadol'' ({{lit|the Great House}}) and ''haAzarah'' ({{lit|the court but see following note}}).}} the Holy of Holies; this is called the Gate of Mercy{{Efn|Today [[Golden Gate (Jerusalem)|"Gate of Mercy"]] refers to a literal gate on the eastern side of the platform. According to Samuel Rabinowitz (2012), ''The Western Wall'' [in Hebrew], p. 262, Benjamin intends "gate of mercy" as a [[term of art]] meaning "place where prayer is received favorably" (cf. Talmudic idiom "he knocked on the gates of mercy" viz. "he prayed"); others, however, assume the reverse: that the Gate of Mercy was once known as the "western wall".}} and hither come all the Jews to pray before the wall in the courtyard{{Efn|The term ''azara'' in its technical sense refers only to the inner court of the Temple, including the central building and the altars. However, Benjamin's contemporaries used it loosely to refer to a different part of, or even the whole of, the Temple site. See Yisrael Ariel, "Prayer on the Temple Mount" (1995) [in Hebrew] in ''Memorial Volume for Rabbi Shlomo Goren'', ed. Yitzhak Alfasi, p. 268. Similarly, [[Al-Biruni]] (c. 1000 CE) refers to a ritual on [[Simchat Torah]] in which the Jews would "assemble in the ''harhara'' of Jerusalem" for a procession (''[[The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries |The Chronology of Ancient Nations]]'', ed. [[Eduard Sachau]] (1879), p. 270), and one [[Cairo Geniza]] letter refers to "Rabbi Musa who was killed in the ''azara'' by the [[Karaite Judaism|Ananites]]" (''JQR'' V p. 554).}}.<ref name="itinerary222">Adler N. M. (1907), ''The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela'', London; p. 23 (English) and p. 24 (Hebrew).</ref></blockquote>

====17th century====
In 1625, David Finzi reported to the Jewish leadership of [[Carpi, Emilia-Romagna|Carpi]] that:<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Benayahu |first=Meir |date=1987 |title=ספור דברים מורגלים בירושלים |journal=Asuppot |volume=1 |pages=215–242 |via=Otzar}}</ref><blockquote>. . . from there we went up to the Temple Mount, passing mundane structures until we reached the peak of the Mount, where once the Temple stood, which was destroyed for our sins. Now a mosque is built upon it, and Jews are prohibited from entering it; only outside it, near the Western Wall, are Jews allowed to gather, and even this only in peaceful times—in difficult times, such as these, the Jewish community has decreed that no one go there.

But in the first week of our visit, before this decree, we went all the way in, and kissed it, and I prostrated myself before its base, and there I said the ordered prayers, and also entreated God to bless all the Jews of Carpi ... Though it is called the Western Wall, nothing of the Temple whatever survived the destruction, the looting by thieves, and the construction of the mosque. They built a [[Dome of the Rock|citadel]] on the site of the [[Foundation Stone]], surpassingly lovely ...</blockquote>Tensions eventually calmed again. Gedaliah of [[Siemiatycze]], who lived in Jerusalem from 1700 to 1706, records that:<ref name=":1" /><blockquote>Only Muslims are permitted to enter the Mount and not Jews or other peoples, unless they convert to the Muslim faith. They say that not just any faith is worthy of the Mount, and they continually remind us that the Muslims have superseded the Jews in the eyes of God. When we go to pray at the Wall, we press right up against it, like the lover in [[Song of Songs]] who "standeth behind our wall". On the [[Rosh Chodesh|eve of the New Moon]], on [[Tisha B'Av|Tisha ba'Av]], and on other [[Ta'anit|fast days]], we go there to pray, and the women to raise their plangent cries, but no one challenges us, and even the ''qadi'' who lives there does not object. Though the Arab youths sometimes come to prey on us, they are easily bribed to leave us alone, and if caught by their own elders they are rebuked ... Prayer by the Wall usually meets with God's favor ... . Once in olden times, or so I heard, there was a terrible drought. The Jews declared a day of fasting, and they went with a Torah scroll to the Western Wall to pray, and God answered their prayers so readily that they had to wrap the scroll in their clothes on their return to the synagogue. Every Sabbath morning, after the services at the synagogue, we immediately set off for the Western Wall ... every single one of us, [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazic]] and [[Sephardic Jews|Sephardic]], old and young ... there we recite those Psalms that mention Jerusalem, and ''Pitom haQtores'', and ''[[Aleinu|Aleinu l'Shabeach]]'', and the [[Kaddish]], and we bless those in the diaspora who fundraise for [[Land of Israel|Eretz Yisrael]] ... .</blockquote>

====18th–19th centuries====
{| class="toccolours" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; font-size: 85%; background:#f9f9f9; width:30em; max-width: 27%;" cellspacing="5"
| style="text-align: left;" |"On Friday afternoon, March 13, 1863, the writer visited this sacred spot. Here he found between one and two hundred Jews of both sexes and of all ages, standing or sitting, and bowing as they read, chanted and recited, moving themselves backward and forward, the tears rolling down many a face; they kissed the walls and wrote sentences in Hebrew upon them... The lamentation which is most commonly used is from [[Psalm 79]]:1 "O God, the heathen are come into Thy inheritance; Thy holy temple have they defiled."
(Rev. James W. Lee, 1863)<ref>{{harvnb|Lee|1863|p=147}}</ref>
|} The writings of various travellers in the Holy Land, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, tell of how the Wall and its environs continued to be a place of devotion for the Jews.<ref name= report1930/> Isaac Yahuda, a prominent member of the [[Sephardic]] community in Jerusalem recalled how men and women used to gather in a circle at the Wall to hear sermons delivered in [[Judeo-Spanish|Ladino]]. His great-grandmother, who arrived in Palestine in 1841, "used to go to the Western Wall every Friday afternoon, winter and summer, and stay there until candle-lighting time, reading the entire Book of Psalms and the Song of Songs...she would sit there by herself for hours."<ref>{{cite book
| last= Deutsch
| first= Nathaniel
| title= The Maiden of Ludmir
| year= 2003
| publisher= [[University of California Press]]
| isbn= 0-520-23191-0
| page= 199
| chapter= In the Holy Land
}}</ref>

====20th–21st centuries====
In the past{{dubious|This is not an acceptable definition. I presume it refers to C20. If (also) C19, place it there - if the source gives clear indication for it.|date=March 2020}} women could be found sitting at the entrance to the Wall every Sabbath holding fragrant herbs and spices in order to enable worshipers to make additional blessings. In the hot weather they would provide cool water. The women also used to cast lots for the privilege of sweeping and washing the alleyway at the foot of the Wall.<ref name= SLC/>

Throughout several centuries, the Wall is where Jews have gathered to express gratitude to God or to pray for divine mercy. On news of the [[Normandy landings]] on June 6, 1944 thousands of Jews went to the Wall to offer prayers for the "success of His Majesty's and Allied Forces in the liberation of all enemy-occupied territory."<ref>{{cite book
| last= Gilbert
| first= Martin
| author-link= Martin Gilbert
| title= Jerusalem in the Twentieth Century
| year= 1996
| publisher= [[Chatto & Windus]]
| location= London
| isbn= 0-7011-3070-9
| page= 167
| chapter= The Second World War, 1939–1945
}}</ref> On October 13, 1994, 50,000 gathered to pray for the safe return of kidnapped soldier [[Nachshon Wachsman]].<ref>{{cite book
| last= Gilbert
| first= Martin
| author-link= Martin Gilbert
| title= Jerusalem in the Twentieth Century
| year= 1996
| publisher= [[Chatto & Windus]]
| location= London
| isbn= 0-7011-3070-9
| page= 353
| chapter= Towards the Twenty-First Century
}}</ref> August 10, 2005 saw a massive prayer rally at the Wall. Estimates of people protesting [[Israel's unilateral disengagement plan]] ranged from 50,000 to 250,000 people.{{Citation needed|date=April 2011}}<ref>{{cite news
|url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3125587,00.html
| title= 70,000 protest pullout at Western Wall
| last= Marciano
| first= Ilan
| access-date =December 26, 2007
| date= August 10, 2005
| work= [[Ynet]]
}}</ref> Every year on [[Tisha B'Av]] large crowds congregate at the Wall to commemorate the destruction of the Temple. In 2007 over 100,000 gathered.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123174
| title= 100,000 Jews At Western Wall for Tisha B'Av 5767
| last= Ratzlav-Katz
| first= Nissan
| access-date =December 26, 2007
| date= July 23, 2007
| publisher= [[Arutz Sheva]]
}}</ref> During the month of [[Tishrei]] 2009, a record 1.5 million people visited the site.<ref>Judith Weil. "Kosel Visitors record", ''Jewish Tribune'', October 22, 2010.</ref>

===Relation to the Foundation Stone===
In Judaism, the Western Wall is venerated as the sole remnant of the [[Temple in Jerusalem|Holy Temple]]. It has become a place of pilgrimage for Jews, as it is the closest permitted accessible site to the holiest spot in Judaism, namely the ''Even ha-shetiya'' or [[Foundation Stone]], which lies on the Temple Mount. According to one rabbinic opinion, Jews may not set foot upon the Temple Mount and doing so is a sin punishable by [[Kareth]]. While almost all historians and archaeologists and some rabbinical authorities believe that the rocky outcrop in the [[Dome of the Rock]] is the Foundation Stone,<ref>[[Radbaz]] [[Responsa]] 691: "Under the [[Dome of the Rock|dome]] on the Temple Mount, which the Arabs call El-Sakhrah, without a doubt, is the location of the Foundation Stone."; Ya'ari, Avraham: ''Igrot Eretz Yisrael'' by [[Obadiah ben Abraham]], [[Ramat Gan]] 1971: "I sought the place of the Foundation Stone where the [[Ark of the Covenant]] was placed, and many people told me it is under a tall and beautiful [[Dome of the Rock|dome]] which the Arabs built in the Temple precinct."</ref> some rabbis say it is located directly opposite the exposed section of the Western Wall, near the El-kas fountain.<ref>[[Moishe Sternbuch|Sternbuch, Moishe]] ''Teshuvos Ve-hanhagos'' Vol. 3, Ch. 39: "In truth they have erred, thinking that the stone upon they built their dome was in fact the Foundation Stone, however, most possibly, the Stone is located further to the south in the open space opposite the exposed section of the Western Wall."</ref> This spot was the site of the [[Kodesh Hakodashim|Holy of Holies]] when the Temple stood.

===Part of the Temple proper===
Rabbinic tradition teaches that the western wall was built upon foundations laid by the biblical [[King Solomon]] from the time of the [[First Temple]].<ref name= KHB>Frishman, Avraham; ''Kum Hisalech Be’aretz'', [[Jerusalem]] 2004</ref>

Some medieval rabbis claimed that today's Western Wall is a surviving wall of the Temple itself and cautioned Jews from approaching it, lest they enter the Temple precincts in a state of impurity.<ref>See Radvaz 692</ref> Many contemporary rabbis believe that the rabbinic traditions were made in reference to the Temple Mount's Western Wall, which accordingly endows the Wall with inherent holiness.<ref name= AH>{{cite book
|last= Horovitz |first= Ahron |title= Jerusalem: Footsteps Through Time |year= 2001
|publisher= [[Feldheim Publishers|Feldheim]] |location=[[Jerusalem]] 
|quote= However, today there is no doubt that the wall is the western retaining wall of the Temple Mount and the Midrash refers to the Temple in its broader sense, that is, the Temple Mount.}}</ref>

===Divine custody===
A 7th-century [[Midrash]] refers to a western wall of the Temple which "would never be destroyed",<ref name= SSR/> and a 6th-century Midrash mentions how [[Roman Empire|Rome]] was unable to topple the western wall due to the Divine oath promising its eternal survival.<ref>[[Lamentations Rabbah]] 1:32</ref>

===Divine Presence===
An 11th-century Midrash quotes a 4th-century scholar: "Rav Acha said that the Divine Presence has never departed from the Western Wall",<ref>[[Exodus Rabbah]] 2:2</ref> and the [[Zohar]] (13th century) similarly writes that "the [[Shekhinah|Divine Presence]] rests upon the Western Wall".<ref>[[Zohar]] [[Mishpatim]] 116</ref>

Eighteenth-century scholar [[Jonathan Eybeschutz]] writes that "after the destruction of the Temple, God removed His Presence from His sanctuary and placed it upon the Western Wall where it remains in its holiness and honour".<ref>''[[Jonathan Eybeschutz#Works|Ya'arot Devash]]'' Vol. 1, Ch. 4</ref> It is told that great Jewish sages, including [[Isaac Luria]] and the [[Radvaz]], experienced a revelation of the Divine Presence at the wall.<ref>See also ''[[Kav ha-Yashar]]'' Ch. 93 and ''[[Chaim Joseph David Azulai#His Shem ha-Gedolim|Shem Ha-gedolim]]'' for a similar account with Rabbi Avraham Ha-levi of Safed.</ref>

===Kabbalah of the word ''kotel''===
Rabbi [[Zvi Hirsch Kaindenover]] discusses the mystical aspect of the Hebrew word ''kotel'' when discussing the significance of praying against a wall. He cites the Zohar which writes that the word ''kotel'', meaning wall, is made up of two parts: "Ko", which has the numerical value of God's name, and "Tel", meaning mount, which refers to the Temple and its Western Wall.<ref>''[[Kav ha-Yashar]]'' Ch. 50</ref>

===Ritual===
[[File:Jews at Western Wall by Felix Bonfils, 1870s.jpg|thumb|right|Jews at the Western Wall, 1870s]]

====Status as a synagogue====
Many contemporary Orthodox [[poskim|scholars]] rule that the area in front of the Wall has the status of a synagogue and must be treated with due respect.<ref name= KHB/> This is the view upheld by the authority in charge of the wall. As such, men and married women are expected to cover their heads upon approaching the Wall, and to dress appropriately. When departing, the custom is to walk backwards away from the Wall to show its sanctity.<ref name= KHB/> On Saturdays, it is forbidden to enter the area with electronic devices, including cameras, which infringe on the sanctity of the [[Sabbath]].

====Contact with the Wall====
Some Orthodox Jewish codifiers warn against inserting fingers into the cracks of the Wall as they believe that the breadth of the Wall constitutes part of the Temple Mount itself and retains holiness, while others who permit doing so claim that the Wall is located outside the Temple area.<ref>See ''[[Avrohom Bornsztain|Avnei Nezer]]'' [[Yoreh Deah]] 450</ref>{{primary source inline|date=February 2016}}

In the past, some visitors would write their names on the Wall, or based upon various scriptural verses, would drive nails into the crevices. These practices stopped after rabbis determined that such actions compromised the sanctity of the Wall.<ref name= SLC/> Another practice also existed whereby pilgrims or those intending to travel abroad would hack off a chip from the Wall or take some of the sand from between its cracks as a good luck charm or memento. In the late 19th century the question was raised as to whether this was permitted and a long [[responsa]] appeared in the Jerusalem newspaper ''[[Israel Dov Frumkin#Havatzelet|Havatzelet]]'' in 1898. It concluded that even if according to Jewish Law it was permitted, the practices should be stopped as it constituted a desecration.<ref name= SLC/> More recently the ''[[Yalkut Yosef]]'' rules that it is forbidden to remove small chips of stone or dust from the Wall, although it is permissible to take twigs from the vegetation which grows in the Wall for an amulet, as they contain no holiness.<ref name= YY>{{cite book |last= Yosef |first= Ovadia |author-link= Ovadia Yosef |title= ''[[Yalkut Yosef]]'' |year= 1990 |location=[[Jerusalem]] |volume= 2, Laws of Kotel HaMa'aravi |pages= 278–282 |no-pp= true}}</ref> Cleaning the stones is also problematic from a [[halachic]] point of view. Blasphemous graffiti once sprayed by a tourist was left visible for months until it began to peel away.<ref>{{cite news
|url=https://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/770030.html
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071228021554/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/770030.html
| url-status=dead
| archive-date=December 28, 2007
| title=Western Wall rabbi forbids proposed burning of prayer notes
| last=Shragai
| first=Nadav
| access-date=December 16, 2007
| date=October 5, 2006
| newspaper=[[Haaretz]]
}}</ref>

====Barefoot approach====
[[File:Wall of Solomon, c1880.jpg|thumb|The faithful remove their shoes upon approaching the Wall, {{Circa|1880}}]]

There was once an old custom of removing one's shoes upon approaching the Wall. A 17th-century collection of special prayers to be said at holy places mentions that "upon coming to the Western Wall one should remove his shoes, bow and recite...".<ref name= SLC/> Rabbi Moses Reicher wrote{{year needed|date=February 2016}} that "it is a good and praiseworthy custom to approach the Western Wall in white garments after ablution, kneel and prostrate oneself in submission and recite "This is nothing other than the House of God and here is the gate of Heaven." When within four [[cubit]]s of the Wall, one should remove their footwear."<ref name= SLC/> Over the years the custom of standing barefoot at the Wall has ceased, as there is no need to remove one's shoes when standing by the Wall, because the plaza area is outside the sanctified precinct of the Temple Mount.<ref name= YY/>

====Mourning over the Temple's destruction====
[[File:PikiWiki Israel 3432 9 av kotel.JPG|thumb|[[Tisha B'Av]] at the Western Wall, 1970s]]

According to Jewish Law, one is obliged to grieve and rend one's garment upon visiting the Western Wall and seeing the desolate site of the Temple.<ref>[[Moed Katan]] 26a; [[Orach Chaim]] 561; [[Yoreh Deah]] 340</ref> [[Yoel Sirkis|Bach]] (17th century) instructs that "when one sees the Gates of Mercy which are situated in the Western Wall, which is the wall [[David|King David]] built, he should recite: Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the nations: the law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the Lord".<ref>''Bayit Chadash'' to [[Orach Chaim]] 561. He contends that the city itself is in such a state of disrepair that once a person has reached the hills surrounding Jerusalem, he can immediately view the Western Wall.</ref> Some [[poskim|scholars]] write that rending one's garments is not applicable nowadays as Jerusalem is under Jewish control. Others disagree, pointing to the fact that the Temple Mount is controlled by the Muslim ''[[Office of the Waqf Administrator|waqf]]'' and that the mosques which sit upon the Temple site should increase feelings of distress. If one hasn't seen the Wall for over 30 days, the prevailing custom is to rend one's garments, but this can be avoided if one visits on the Sabbath or on festivals.<ref>[[Shlomo Zalman Aurbach|Minchas Shlomo]] Vol. 1, Ch. 73. See also: [http://www.rjconline.org/hib52.htm Tearing keriah for Jerusalem] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501114501/http://www.rjconline.org/hib52.htm |date=May 1, 2009 }}; [http://www.ksy.org.il/AskTheRabbi.asp?QID=89 Ask the Rabbi: Kosel Keriah] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071227232051/http://www.ksy.org.il/AskTheRabbi.asp?QID=89 |date=December 27, 2007 }}</ref> According to Donneal Epstein, a person who has not seen the Wall within the last 30 days should recite: "Our Holy Temple, which was our glory, in which our forefathers praised You, was burned and all of our delights were destroyed".<ref>Epstein, Donneal. [https://books.google.com/books?id=fltQaoNFXX4C&dq=Halachos+for+the+Traveler+%22Our+Holy+Temple,+which+was+our+glory,+in+which+our+forefathers+praised+You%22&pg=PA70 Halachos for the Traveler], [[Feldheim Publishers|Feldheim]] 2000, p. 70. {{ISBN|1-58330-439-8}}.</ref>

====Significance as place of prayer====
[[File:Women at western wall.jpg|thumb|Women at prayer, early 20th century]]

The Sages of the Talmud stated that anyone who prays at the [[Temple in Jerusalem]], "it is as if he has prayed before the throne of glory because the gate of heaven is situated there and it is open to hear prayer."<ref>[[Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer]] 35</ref> Jewish Law stipulates that the [[Amidah|Silent Prayer]] should be recited facing [[mizrah|towards Jerusalem]], the Temple and ultimately the Holy of Holies,<ref>''[[Shlomo Ganzfried#Kitzur Shulchan Aruch|Kitzur Shulchan Aruch]]'' 18:10. The ''[[Yaakov Chaim Sofer|Kaf hachaim]]'' ([[Orach Chaim]] 94:1:4 citing [[Radvaz]] Vol. 2; Ch. 648) rules that if a Jew was forced onto the Temple Mount and the time of prayer arrived while he's standing between the Western Wall and the place of the Holy of Holies, "he should pray facing towards the Holy of Holies even though his back will be facing the Western Wall."</ref> as God's bounty and blessing emanates from that spot.<ref name= KHB/> It is generally believed that prayer by the Western Wall is particularly beneficial since it was that wall which was situated closest to the Holy of Holies.<ref name= KHB/> Rabbi [[Jacob Ettlinger]] (1798–1871) writes, making reference to a medieval rabbi, "since the Theology and ritual Israel's prayers ascend on high there... as one of the great ancient kabbalists Rabbi [[Joseph Gikatilla]] said, when the Jews send their prayers from the Diaspora in the direction of Jerusalem, from there they ascend by way of the Western Wall."<ref name= SLC/> A well-known ''[[Segula (Kabbalah)|segula]]'' (efficacious remedy) for finding one's soulmate is to pray for 40 consecutive days at the Western Wall,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=peGw2sZVN5QC&pg=PA486 |page=486 |last=Kiel |first=Dvora |title=When the Time is Right: Manifestations of Divine Providence in everyday life |publisher=Feldheim Publishers |year=2007 |isbn= 978-965-7371-29-9}}</ref> a practice apparently conceived by Rabbi [[Yisroel Yaakov Fisher]] (1928–2003).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://westernwallprayers.org/aboutwwp/originofthe40days.html |title=Origin of the 40 Days |year=2012 |access-date=March 18, 2012 |publisher=westernwallprayers.org |archive-date=March 8, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308020417/http://westernwallprayers.org/aboutwwp/originofthe40days.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

====Egalitarian and non-Orthodox prayer====
[[File:Men's and women's prayer areas at the Western Wall, seen from walkway to the Dome of the Rock.jpg|thumb|right|The separate areas for men (top) and women, seen from the walkway to the Dome of the Rock|alt=Two large groups of people, seen from slightly above them, separated by a white cloth barrier, standing before a beige stone wall whose top cannot be seen, with another wall in the rear. The group in the foreground is all female, the one in the rear is all male, with many wearing white robes or shrouds]]

While during the late 19th century, no formal segregation of men and women was to be found at the Wall,<ref>[http://tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/130878/the-womens-wall The Women's Wall] Tablet Magazine, April 30, 2013</ref> conflict erupted in July 1968 when members of the [[World Union for Progressive Judaism]] were denied the right to host a mixed-gender service at the site after the Ministry of Religious Affairs insisted on maintaining the gender segregation customary at Orthodox places of worship. The progressives responded by claiming that "the Wall is a shrine of all Jews, not one particular branch of Judaism."<ref name= jta/>

In 1988, the small but vocal group called [[Women of the Wall]] launched a campaign for recognition of non-Orthodox prayer at the Wall.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://womenofthewall.org.il/about/mission-statement/ |title= Mission Statement |work= Women of the Wall – נשות הכותל |url-status= dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308072412/http://womenofthewall.org.il/about/mission-statement/ |archive-date= March 8, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://womenofthewall.org.il/about/history/ |title= History |work =Women of the Wall – נשות הכותל |url-status= dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308070301/http://womenofthewall.org.il/about/history/ |archive-date= March 8, 2016 |df= mdy-all}}</ref> Their form and manner of prayer elicited a violent response from some Orthodox worshippers and they were subsequently banned from holding services at the site.<ref name= NYT13/> After repeated attacks by [[haredim]], in 1989 the Women of the Wall petitioned to secure the right of women to pray at the wall without restrictions.<ref name= wound>{{cite news |last= Nathan-Kazis |first= Josh |title= Embassy Letter on Kotel Rubs Salt in the Wound |url=http://www.forward.com/articles/124477/ |access-date= July 13, 2010 |newspaper=[[The Jewish Daily Forward]] |date= February 5, 2010 |location= New York, New York}}</ref>

A decade on, some commentators called for the closure of the Wall unless an acceptable solution to the controversy was found.<ref name= Tear>Bleiweiss, Robert. "Tear Down the Western Wall". ''Jewish Spectator'', 1997. p. 3: "There is no quick or easily acceptable way to change this sorry situation, so the blighted thing probably ought to be torn down before its continued presence leads to the irreparable splitting of the Jews and perhaps even civil war and the end of the state of Israel."</ref>

In 2003 [[Israel's Supreme Court]] upheld the ban on non-Orthodox worship at the Wall,<ref name= virtual/>{{better source needed|date=December 2022}} disallowing any women from reading publicly from the Torah or wearing traditional [[tallit|prayer shawls]] at the plaza itself, but instructed the Israeli government to prepare the site of Robinson's Arch to host such events,<ref name= wound/> given that this area does not come under the direct control of the Rabbi of the Wall or the Ministry of Religious Affairs.<ref name= virtual/>{{better source needed|date=December 2022}} The government responded by allocating Robinson's Arch for such purposes.<ref name= wound/>

The Robinson's Arch worship site was inaugurated in August 2004 and has since hosted services by [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] and [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]] groups, as well as services by the Women of the Wall.<ref name= NYT13/>

In 2012, critics still complained about the restrictions at the Western Wall, saying Israel had "turned a national monument into an ultra-Orthodox synagogue."<ref>{{cite web |author= Rudoren, Jodi |title= Israel to Review Curbs on Women's Prayer at Western Wall |date= December 26, 2012 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/26/world/middleeast/israeli-law-curbing-womens-prayer-up-for-review.html |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

In April 2013 things came to a head. In response to the repeated arrest of women, including [[Anat Hoffman]], found flouting the law, the [[Jewish Agency]] observed 'the urgent need to reach a permanent solution and make the Western Wall once again a symbol of unity among the Jewish people, and not one of discord and strife."<ref name= NYT13/> Jewish Agency leader [[Natan Sharansky]] spearheaded a concept that would expand and renovate the Robinson's Arch area into an area where people may "perform worship rituals not based on the Orthodox interpretation of Jewish tradition."<ref name="forward.com">Guttman, Nathan and Jane Eisner. [http://forward.com/articles/174588/kotel-egalitarian-prayer-plan-set-in-motion-by-dra/?p=all "Kotel Egalitarian Prayer Plan Set in Motion by Dramatic Western Wall Compromise."] ''The Jewish Daily Forward''. April 10-12, 2013.</ref> The Jerusalem District Court ruled that as long as there was no other appropriate area for pluralistic prayer, prayer according to non-Orthodox custom should be allowed at the Wall,<ref name="jpost.com">{{cite news |url=https://www.jpost.com/National-News/Pending-deal-with-Women-of-the-Wall-would-annul-regulations-banning-non-Orthodox-practice-at-Kotel-346510 |title= Pending deal with Women of the Wall would annul regulations banning non-Orthodox practice at Kotel |date=26 March 2014 |newspaper= The Jerusalem Post}}</ref> and a judge ruled that the 2003 Israeli Supreme Court ruling prohibiting women from carrying a Torah or wearing prayer shawls had been misinterpreted and that Women of the Wall prayer gatherings at the Wall should not be deemed as disturbing the public order.<ref name= NYT13/>

[[File:Azarat Yisrael Plaza.jpg|thumb|Ezrat Yisrael Plaza (prayer platform), Robinson's Arch, opened August 2013]]

On August 25, 2013, a new 4,480 square foot prayer platform named "Ezrat Yisrael Plaza" was completed as part of this plan of facilitating non-Orthodox worship, with access to the platform at all hours, even when the rest of the area's archaeological park is closed to visitors.<ref name="platform">Jaffay, Nathan, [http://forward.com/articles/183130/is-western-wall-prayer-platform-step-forward-for-w/?p=all, "Is Western Wall Prayer Platform a Step Forward For Women – or Back?"], ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', August 30, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2014.</ref><ref name="Separate — but not equal">Pollack, Suzanne, [http://washingtonjewishweek.com/5015/separate-but-not-equal/ ''Separate – but not equal''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801132244/https://washingtonjewishweek.com/5015/separate-but-not-equal/ |date=August 1, 2019 }}, ''Washington Jewish Week'', August 28, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2014.</ref> After some controversy regarding the question of authority over this prayer area, the announcement was made that it would come under the authority of a future government-appointed "pluralist council" that would include non-Orthodox representatives.<ref name="council">[http://forward.com/articles/193988/pluralist-council-will-oversee-robinsons-arch-at-w/ "Pluralist Council Will Oversee Robinson's Arch at Western Wall"], ''Jewish Daily Forward'' (from Jewish Telegraphic Agency press release), published March 6, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2014.</ref>

In January 2016, the Israeli Cabinet approved a plan to designate a new space at the Kotel that would be available for egalitarian prayer and that would not be controlled by the Rabbinate. Women of the Wall welcomed the decision,<ref name="NYT2016">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/01/world/middleeast/israel-western-wall-prayer.html |title= Israel Approves Prayer Space at Western Wall for Non-Orthodox Jews |date= February 1, 2016 |work= The New York Times}}</ref> although Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar of Jerusalem said creating a mixed-gender prayer section was paramount to destroying the Wall. The Chief Rabbinate said it would create an alternate plan.<ref>[http://www.timesofisrael.com/jerusalem-rabbi-mixed-gender-plaza-akin-to-razing-western-wall/ Jerusalem chief rabbi: Mixed-gender plaza akin to razing Western Wall] Times of Israel, March 6, 2016</ref> In June 2017, it was announced that the plan approved in January 2016 had been suspended.<ref name="jweekly1">{{cite web |last=Sales |first=Ben |url=http://www.jweekly.com/2017/06/26/suspension-of-western-wall-deal-leaves-jewish-leaders-feeling-betrayed/ |title=Suspension of Western Wall deal leaves Jewish leaders feeling betrayed – J |work=J. |publisher=Jweekly.com |date=2017-06-26 |access-date=2017-07-21}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web |url=https://www.jta.org/2017/06/25/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/netanyahu-rescinds-pluralistic-western-wall-agreement |title=Israel freezes Western Wall compromise that was to create egalitarian prayer section &#124; Jewish Telegraphic Agency |publisher=Jta.org |date=2017-06-25 |access-date=2017-07-21}}</ref>

====Prayer notes====
{{Main|Placing notes in the Western Wall}}
[[File:Prayer Papers in the Western Wall.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Slips of paper containing prayers in the cracks of the Wall]]

There is a much publicised practice of placing slips of paper containing [[kvitelach|written prayers]] into the crevices of the Wall. The earliest account of this practice describes [[Chaim ibn Attar]] (d. 1743) writing an amulet for a petitioner and instructing him to place it inside the wall.<ref>{{Cite web |title=מסעות ירושלים - גולדשטין, משה בן יהודה (page 76 of 284) |url=https://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=10152&st=&pgnum=76 |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=hebrewbooks.org}}</ref> More than a million notes are placed each year<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1826734,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080726202612/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1826734,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 26, 2008 |title=Obama's Private Prayer 'Leaked' |magazine=Time |date=July 25, 2008 |access-date=August 19, 2009}}</ref> and the opportunity to e-mail notes is offered by a number of organisations.<ref>{{cite book
| last= Starr
| first= Joyce Shira
| title= Faxes and Email to God: At the Western Wall of Jerusalem
| year= 1995
| publisher= [[iUniverse]]
| isbn= 978-1-893652-37-8
}}</ref> It has become customary for visiting dignitaries to place notes too.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2000/3/Letter%20Placed%20by%20Pope%20John%20Paul%20II%20at%20the%20Western
| title= Letter Placed by Pope John Paul II at the Western Wall
| access-date= October 7, 2008
| publisher= [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Tim|last=McGirk|title=Obama's Private Prayer Leaked|date=July 25, 2008|work=Time Magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1826734,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080726202612/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1826734,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 26, 2008}}</ref>

====Chabad tefillin stand====
Shortly after the Western Wall came under Israeli control in 1967, a stand of the [[Chabad]] movement offering [[Tefillin|phylacteries]] (''tefillin'') was erected with permission from Rabbi [[Yehuda Meir Getz]], the first rabbi of the Kotel. The stand offers male visitors the chance to put on ''tefillin'', a daily Jewish prayer ritual. In the months following the [[Six-Day War]] an estimated 400,000 Jews observed this ritual at the stand.<ref>{{cite news |first= Leo |last= Schapiro |date= November 25, 1967 |title= Lubavitchers Push Tefillin Campaign |work= Boston Globe |quote= Since the Six Day War in June which resulted in the creation of a united Jerusalem as part of Israel, more than 400,000 members of the Jewish faith are estimated to have observed the commandment to wear Phylacteries – tefillin In Hebrew – at the city's Western, formerly known as the "Wailing” Wall.}}</ref> The stand is staffed by multilingual Chabad volunteers and an estimated 100,000 male visitors put on tefillin there annually.<ref>{{cite news |first= Dovid |last= Margolin |title= 50 Years After Six-Day War, How the Kotel Became Synonymous With Tefillin |date= May 15, 2017 |url=http://www.chabad.org/news/article_cdo/aid/3674194/jewish/50-Years-After-Six-Day-War-How-the-Kotel-Became-Synonymous-With-Tefillin.htm |work= Chabad.org}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=December 2022}}

==In Islam==
[[File:WilsonHoshAlBurak.png|thumb|South-west corner of the Haram from the [[Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem]], 1865)]]

===Tradition of the place of tethering===
Muslim reverence for the site is derived from the belief that the [[Prophets and messengers in Islam|Islamic prophet]] [[Muhammad]] tied his winged mount [[Buraq]] nearby during his [[Isra and Mi'raj|night journey]] to Jerusalem. Various places have been suggested for the exact spot where Buraq was tethered, but for several centuries the preferred location has been the [[al-Buraq Mosque]], which is just inside the wall at the south end of the present Western Wall plaza. The mosque is located above an ancient passageway, which once came out through the long-sealed [[Barclay's Gate]] whose huge lintel is still visible directly below the [[Maghrebi Gate]].<ref>{{cite book |author= Amikam Elad |title= Medieval Jerusalem and Islamic Worship |publisher= Brill |year= 1999 |place= Leiden |pages= 101–102}}</ref>

There are four different locations, along the southern, eastern, and western wall, with gates known successively or simultaneously as the Gate of the Prophet and al-Buraq.<ref name=Matthews/>

====Early Muslim vs. Mamluk-period traditions====
US scholar Charles D. Matthews wrote in 1932 that, based on the work of Muslim authors of the 10th to 11th centuries (the later part of the [[History of Palestine#Early Muslim period|Early Muslim period]]), the place where Prophet Muhammad had tethered Buraq and entered the ''haram'' was considered at the time to be the [[Huldah Gates#Double Gate|Double Gate]] of the [[Southern Wall|Temple Mount's southern wall]].<ref name=Matthews/> To reach this conclusion, which he shares with [[Charles William Wilson|Charles Wilson]] and [[Guy Le Strange]], he analysed the relevant texts by [[Ibn al-Faqih]] (903), [[Ibn Abd Rabbih]] (913), and mainly by [[Muqaddasi]] (985) and [[Nasir-i-Khusrau]] (1047).<ref name=Matthews/> One of the earliest authors who are more ambiguous, opening the possibility of identifying the Gate of the Prophet and al-Buraq with either the Double or Barclay's Gate, is Burhan ad-Din ibn al-Firkah of Damascus (d. 1329).<ref name=Matthews/> Another [[Mamluk Egypt|Mamluk]]-period writer, Mujir ad-Din (1496), is the first one to unambiguously identify Barclay's Gate as the Gate of al-Buraq or of the Prophet.<ref name=Matthews/> However, Mujir ad-Din's work is effectively a rework of earlier texts, with [[as-Suyuti]] (1471) being the main source—and he fails to mention that as—Suyuti stated that the [[Inspector's Gate|Gate of the Inspector]], located close to the ''northern'' end of the western wall, was also known as the Gate of al-Buraq or of the Prophet.<ref name=Matthews/>

====Ottoman-period identification====
To the previously mentioned variations in identification adds yet another gate, the now walled-up Funeral Gate (''bab al-jana'iz''), [[Bab al-Rahma Cemetery|just south]] of the [[Golden Gate (Jerusalem)|Golden Gate]], also known as 'Gate of al-Buraq' and marked as such on a 1864 Temple Mount map by [[Melchior de Vogüé]], based on the 1833 survey by [[Frederick Catherwood]]<ref name=Matthews/><ref name="Necipoğlu">{{cite journal |last= Necipoğlu |first= Gülru |author-link= Gülru Necipoğlu |title=The Dome of the Rock as a palimpsest: 'Abd al-Malik's grand narrative and Sultan Süleyman's glosses |date= 2008 |journal= Muqarnas: An Annual on the Visual Culture of the Islamic |publisher= Brill |location= Leiden |volume= 25 |pages= 20–21 |isbn= 978-9004173279 |url= http://archnet.org/system/publications/contents/6779/original/DPC3643.pdf?1384802697 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150927135125/http://archnet.org/system/publications/contents/6779/original/DPC3643.pdf?1384802697 |archive-date= 27 September 2015 |access-date= 13 December 2022}}</ref> (see [https://madainproject.com/bab_al_rahmah_cemetery_(jerusalem) Bab al-Rahmah Cemetery] at MadainProject.com for a photo and short description).

When a British Jew asked the Egyptian authorities in 1840 for permission to re-pave the ground in front of the Western Wall, the governor of Syria wrote:
:It is evident from the copy of the record of the deliberations of the Consultative Council in Jerusalem that the place the Jews asked for permission to pave adjoins the wall of the Haram al-Sharif and also the spot where al-Buraq was tethered, and is included in the endowment charter of [[Abu Madyan]], may God bless his memory; that the Jews never carried out any repairs in that place in the past. ... Therefore the Jews must not be enabled to pave the place.<ref>{{cite book |author= F. E. Peters |title= Jerusalem |publisher= Princeton University Press |place= Princeton |year= 1985 |pages=541–542}} Arabic text in {{cite book |author= A. L. Tibawi |title= The Islamic Pious Foundations in Jerusalem |publisher= The Islamic Cultural Centre |place= London |at= Appendix III |year= 1978}}</ref>

[[Carl Sandreczki]], who was charged with compiling a list of place names for [[Charles William Wilson|Charles Wilson's]] [[Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem]] in 1865, reported that the street leading to the Western Wall, including the part alongside the wall, belonged to the ''[[Hosh (architecture)|Hosh]]'' (court/enclosure) of ''al Burâk'', "not ''Obrâk'', nor ''Obrat''".<ref name=Sandrecki>{{cite book |author= Carl Sandrecki |year= 1865 |title= Account of a Survey of the City of Jerusalem made in order to ascertain the names of streets etc.|at=Day IV}} reproduced in {{cite book |author= Captain Charles W. Wilson R.E. |edition= Facsimile |year= 1865 |publication-date= 1980 |publisher=Ariel Publishing House |title= Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem |at= Appendix}}</ref> In 1866, the Prussian Consul and [[Oriental studies|Orientalist]] [[Georg Rosen (1821–1891)|Georg Rosen]] wrote that "The Arabs call Obrâk the entire length of the wall at the wailing place of the Jews, southwards down to the house of Abu Su'ud and northwards up to the substructure of the Mechkemeh [Shariah court]. Obrâk is not, as was formerly claimed, a corruption of the word Ibri (Hebrews), but simply the neo-Arabic pronunciation of Bōrâk, ... which, whilst (Muhammad) was at prayer at the holy rock, is said to have been tethered by him inside the wall location mentioned above."<ref name=Rosen>{{cite book |author= G. Rosen |title= Das Haram von Jerusalem und der Tempelplatz des Moria |publisher= Gotha |year= 1866 |pages=9–10 |quote= Die ganze Mauerstrecke am Klageplatz der Juden bis südlich an die Wohnung des Abu Su'ud und nördlich an die Substructionen der Mechkemeh wird von den Arabern Obrâk genannt, nicht, wie früher behauptet worden, eine Corruption des Wortes Ibri (Hebräer), sondern einfach die neu-arabische Aussprache von Bōrâk, [dem Namen des geflügelten Wunderrosses,] welches [den Muhammed vor seiner Auffahrt durch die sieben Himmel nach Jerusalem trug] und von ihm während seines Gebetes am heiligen Felsen im Innern der angegebenen Mauerstelle angebunden worden sein soll.}}</ref>

The name Hosh al Buraq appeared on the maps of Wilson's 1865 survey, its revised editions of 1876 and 1900, and other maps in the early 20th century.<ref>{{cite book |author= Captain Charles W. Wilson R.E. |edition= Facsimile |year= 1865 |publication-date= 1980 |publisher=Ariel Publishing House |title= Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem |at= maps}}; [https://www.nli.org.il/en/maps/NNL_MAPS_JER002368216/NLI Wilson 1876]; [https://www.nli.org.il/en/maps/NNL_ALEPH002366990/NLI Wilson 1900]; [https://www.nli.org.il/en/maps/NNL_ALEPH002368106/NLI August Kümmel 1904] ; [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/history_middle_east.html Karl Baedeker 1912]; [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/history_middle_east.html George Adam Smith 1915]</ref>

====British Mandate====
In 1922, Hosh al Buraq was the street name specified by the official [[Pro-Jerusalem Society|Pro-Jerusalem Council]].<ref>{{cite book |author= Council of the Pro-Jerusalem Society |editor= C. R. Ashby |title= Jerusalem 1920–1922 |year= 1924 |publisher= John Murray |place= London |page= 27}}</ref>

==In Christianity==
[[File:Franciscus kotel.jpg|thumb|[[Pope Francis]] at the Western Wall]]

Some scholars{{who|date=May 2019}} believe that when Jerusalem came under Christian rule in the 4th century, there was a purposeful "transference" of respect for the Temple Mount and the Western Wall in terms of sanctity to the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]], while the sites around the Temple Mount became a refuse dump for Christians.<ref name="catholic">[http://www.uscatholic.org/church/2009/08/sensitivity-training USCatholic.org], retrieved March 27, 2011.</ref> However, the actions of many modern Christian leaders, including [[Pope John Paul II]] and [[Pope Benedict XVI]], who visited the Wall and left prayer messages in its crevices, have symbolized for many Christians a restoration of respect and even veneration for this ancient religious site.<ref name="catholic"/>

==Ideological views==
===Jewish===
[[File:A man prays at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.jpg|thumb|right|A Jew praying at the Western Wall]]

Most Jews, religious and secular, consider the wall to be important to the Jewish people since it was originally built to hold the [[Second Temple]]. They consider the capture of the wall by Israel in 1967 as a historic event since it restored Jewish access to the site after a 19-year gap.<ref name=TOS>[[Berel Wein|Wein, Berel]]. ''Triumph of Survival''; Section VIII – The Modern Jew 1958–1988, p. 451.</ref>

Israeli philosopher [[Yeshayahu Leibowitz]] referred to the attitude towards the Western Wall as "idolatry"<ref name="huffpost.com">{{Cite web|author= Goshen-Gottstein, Alon|title=Is the Western Wall a Kind of Idolatry?|date=June 26, 2017|publisher=Huffington Post|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/is-the-western-wall-a-kind-of-idolatry_b_59515459e4b0c85b96c65ba1|access-date=July 16, 2023}}</ref> and publicly decried the Israelis' triumphalism following the 1967 victory.<ref>{{cite news |last= Leibovitz |first= Liel |title= Stop Yeshayahu Leibowitz! By failing to name a street after the controversial philosopher, the city of Jerusalem proved he was right |work= Tablet Magazine |date= 11 April 2013 |url= https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/129034/stop-yeshayahu-leibowitz |access-date=2 August 2019}}</ref>

[[Dan Bahat]], former district archaeologist of Jerusalem who headed the Western Wall Tunnel excavations in the years 1986–2007, decried in 2018 the transformation of this iconic historical site into a regulated place of worship: "The Western Wall is sacrosanct. But out of a national monument, it has become a synagogue."<ref name= DB>[https://www.timesofisrael.com/is-evidence-of-temples-destruction-being-destroyed-by-a-bid-for-jewish-unity/ "Is evidence of Temple’s destruction being destroyed by a bid for Jewish unity?"] Amanda Borschel-Dan for ''The Times of Israel'', 22 July 2018. Retrieved 8 Oct 2024.</ref>

===Israeli===
A poll carried out in 2007 by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies indicated that 96% of [[Israeli Jews]] were against Israel relinquishing the Western Wall.<ref>{{cite news
|url=https://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/858755.html
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070515064905/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/858755.html
| url-status=dead
| archive-date=May 15, 2007
| title=Poll: 96% of Israeli Jews won't give up Western Wall for peace
| last=Shargai
| first=Nadav
| access-date=March 4, 2008
| date=May 14, 2007
| newspaper=[[Haaretz]]
}}</ref> 

[[Yitzhak Reiter]] writes that "the Islamization and de-Judaization of the Western Wall are a recurrent motif in publications and public statements by the heads of the Islamic Movement in Israel."<ref name= Reiter08>{{cite book |author= Yitzhak Reiter |title= Jerusalem and its role in Islamic solidarity |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=20rYAAAAMAAJ |access-date= June 10, 2011|year= 2008 |publisher= Palgrave Macmillan |isbn= 978-0-230-60782-8 |page= 57}}</ref>

===Muslim===
[[File:Jerusalem Dome of the rock BW 12.JPG|thumb|Western Wall and Dome of the Rock]]

In December 1973, King [[Faisal of Saudi Arabia]] stated that "Only Muslims and Christians have holy places and rights in Jerusalem". The Jews, he maintained, had no rights there at all. As for the Western Wall, he said, "Another wall can be built for them. They can pray against that".<ref>{{cite book
| last= Wasserstein
| first= Bernard
| title= Divided Jerusalem
| year= 2001
| publisher= [[Profile Books]]
| location= London
| isbn= 1-86197-333-0
| page= [https://archive.org/details/dividedjerusalem0000wass/page/ 233]
| chapter= Annexation
|url=https://archive.org/details/dividedjerusalem0000wass/page/
}}
</ref>

===Palestinian===
The [[Palestinian National Authority]]'s State Information Service (SIS) stated as fact that the Jews did not consider the Wall as a place for worship until after the [[Balfour Declaration]] was issued in 1917.<ref>{{cite web |title= Alburaq Revolution |website= The Nakba |publisher= State Information Service of the [[Palestinian National Authority]] |url= http://nakba.sis.gov.ps/english/British-mandate/Alburaq%20Revolution.html |access-date= December 7, 2007 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20040715114020/http://nakba.sis.gov.ps/english/British-mandate/Alburaq%20Revolution.html |archive-date= July 15, 2004}}</ref>

In 2006, Dr. Hassan Khader, founder of the [[Al Quds Encyclopedia]], told PA television that the first connection of the Jews to the Wall is "a recent one, which began in the 16th century...not ancient...like the roots of the Islamic connection".<ref>{{cite web 
|last= Klein 
|first= Aaron 
|title= Quick Takes: News From Israel You May Have Missed 
|date= October 25, 2006
|publisher= [[The Jewish Press]] 
|url= https://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/quick-takes-news-from-israel-you-may-have-missed-51/2006/10/25/
|access-date= March 11, 2013}}</ref>

The [[Mufti of Jerusalem]], Sheikh [[Ekrima Sa'id Sabri]] said in 2007 that "there never was a Jewish temple on the Temple Mount" and that "there is not a single stone with any relation at all to the history of the Hebrews."<ref>{{cite news |title='Western Wall was never part of temple' |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel/western-wall-was-never-part-of-temple |access-date=8 January 2024 |publisher=The Jerusalem Post |date=25 October 2007}}</ref>

In November 2010, an official paper published by the PA Ministry of Information denied Jewish rights to the Wall. It stated that "Al-Buraq Wall is in fact the western wall of Al-Aksa Mosque" and that Jews had only started using the site for worship after the 1917 Balfour Declaration.<ref>[[Khaled Abu Toameh]]. [https://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=196329 Jews have no right to Western Wall, PA 'study' says], ''Jerusalem Post'', November 22, 2010.</ref>

===American===
[[File:President Trump visit to Israel, May 2017 DSC 3714OSD (34019020653).jpg|thumb|U.S. president [[Donald Trump]] (right) visits the Western Wall, accompanied by Rabbi [[Shmuel Rabinovitch]] (center), 2017]]

While recognizing the difficulties inherent in any ultimate peace agreement that involves the status of Jerusalem, the official position of the United States includes a recognition of the importance of the Wall to the Jewish people, and has condemned statements that seek to "delegitimize" the relationship between Jews and the area in general, and the Western Wall in particular. For example, in November 2010, the [[Barack Obama|Obama]] administration "strongly condemned a Palestinian official's claim that the Western Wall in the Old City has no religious significance for Jews and is actually Muslim property." The U.S. State Department noted that the United States rejects such a claim as "factually incorrect, insensitive and highly provocative."<ref name="cleveland">[https://www.cleveland.com/world/2010/11/us_condemns_palestinian_claim.html U.S. condemns Palestinian claim on Western Wall of Temple Mount], Cleveland.com, retrieved March 27, 2011.</ref>

==Administration==
After the 1967 Arab–Israeli war, Rabbi [[Yehuda Meir Getz]] was named the overseer of proceedings at the wall.<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE5D7143CF936A1575AC0A963958260
| title= Obituaries: Yehuda Meir Getz, Western Wall's Rabbi, 71
| access-date =October 7, 2008
| date= September 25, 1995
| work= The New York Times
}}</ref> After Rabbi Getz's death in 1995, Rabbi [[Shmuel Rabinowitz]] was given the position.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.aleh.org/eng/staff.asp?SID=6
| title= Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz
| access-date =October 7, 2008
| publisher= ALEH
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012053418/http://www.aleh.org/eng/staff.asp?SID=6
| archive-date= October 12, 2007
}}</ref> The [[Western Wall Heritage Foundation]] is the administrative body put in charge of the Wall.

==See also==
{{Portal|Judaism|Islam|Israel}}
*[[List of artifacts in biblical archaeology]]
*[[Mughrabi Bridge]]
*[[Pro–Wailing Wall Committee]]
*[[Southern Wall]]
*[[Walls of Jerusalem]]
*[[Western Stone]]
*[[Western Wall camera]]
*[[Western Wall Tunnel]]

==Footnotes==
{{Notelist}}{{Reflist|colwidth=25em}}

==References==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
*{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/2001/jerusalem/islam.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010413163522/http://www.time.com/time/2001/jerusalem/islam.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 13, 2001 |title=Islam's Stake|last= Armstrong |first= Karen |access-date=October 8, 2008 |date=April 16, 2001 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] }}
*{{cite book |title=City of the Great King |last=Barclay |first=James Turner |publisher=Challen |year=1858 |chapter=Modern Jerusalem }}
*{{cite book |last1=Ben-Dov |first1=Meir |last2=Naor |first2=Mordechai |last3=Aner |first3=Ze'ev |title=The Western Wall |year=1983 |publisher=Ministry of Defence |location=[[Israel]] |isbn=965-05-0055-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/westernwall00bend }}
*{{cite book |last=Bleiweiss |first=Robert |title=Jewish Spectator |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GmcuAQAAIAAJ |year=1997 |chapter=Tear Down the Western Wall }}
*{{cite book |first=Mordecai S. |last=Chertoff |title=Zionism: a basic reader |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uj68AAAAIAAJ |year=1975 |publisher=Herzl Press }}
*{{cite book |last=Gonen |first=Rivka |title=Contested Holiness |year=2003 |publisher=KTAV Publishing |isbn=0-88125-799-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/contestedholines00rivk }}
*{{Cite book| title = The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967–1977
 | last = Gorenberg | first = Gershom | year = 2007
 | author-link = Gershom Gorenberg
 | publisher = [[Macmillan Publishers]]
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Np_j5sSpCrEC&pg=PT98
 | isbn = 978-1-466-80054-0
}}
*{{cite journal |title=The Western Wall: 'Western Wall' or 'Wailing Wall'? |last=Halkin |first=Hillel |author-link=Hillel Halkin |journal=Forward |date=January 12, 2001 |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/ldquo-western-wall-rdquo-or-ldquo-wailing-wall-rdquo |access-date=November 24, 2022 }}
*{{cite book |first=Thomas A.|last=Idinopulos|title=Jerusalem: A History of the Holiest City as Seen Through the Struggles of Jews, Christians, and Muslims|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QnugAAAAMAAJ |year=1994 |publisher=Ivan R. Dee, Publisher |isbn=978-1-56663-062-7 }}
*{{cite book |title=Earthly Footsteps of the Man of Galilee |last=Lee |first=James W. |year=1863 |url=http://www.lifeintheholyland.com/wailing_wall_1800s.htm |access-date=May 31, 2009 }}
*{{cite book |last=Mock |first=Steven |title=Symbols of Defeat in the Construction of National Identity |url=https://archive.org/details/symbolsofdefeati0000mock |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/symbolsofdefeati0000mock/page/35 35] |year=2011 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-50352-5 |chapter=Theories of Nations and Nationalism }}
*{{cite book |title=Jerusalem |last=Peters |first=F. E. |author-link=Francis Edward Peters
| publisher=Princeton University Press |place=Princeton, New Jersey
| year=1984 |pages=357–359, 394–396 }}
*{{cite web |title=The 'Al-Aksa Is in Danger' Libel: The History of a Lie |last=Shragai |first=Nadav |year=2014 |publisher=[[Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs]]|url=https://jcpa.org/al-aksa-libel-advocate-mufti-haj-amin-al-husseini/ |access-date=November 24, 2022 }}
*{{cite book |last=Vilnay |first=Zev |title=Legends of Palestine |year=2003 |publisher=Kessinger Publishing|isbn= 0-7661-4128-4 |chapter=How the Wall was discovered}}
*{{cite book |title=In the Levant|last=Warner|first=Charles Dudley |publisher=Houghton
| year=1878|chapter=Jerusalem}}
*{{cite book |title=Picturesque Palestine|last=Wilson|first=Charles|volume= 1|year=1881|url=http://www.lifeintheholyland.com/wailing_wall_1800s.htm|access-date=May 31, 2009}}
*{{cite book |title=The World Book Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eDrYAAAAMAAJ|year=2007|publisher=World Book|isbn=978-0-7166-0107-4}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[https://www.jcpa.org/jpsr/s99-yc.htm The political role of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate in the Temple Mount question], Yoel Cohen, from the Jewish Political Studies Review, Volume 11:1–2 (Spring 1999), accessed March 2020.
*[https://thekotel.org/en/ Official website] of [[the Western Wall Heritage Foundation]]
*[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-western-wall Jewish Virtual Library: ''The Western Wall'']
*[https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2246/jewish/The-Shofar-and-the-Wall.htm Chabad.org: ''The Shofar and the Wall, 1930'']
*[http://www.isracast.com/article.aspx?id=374 Liberation of the Temple Mount and Western Wall: Historic Live Broadcast on Voice of Israel Radio, June 7th, 1967] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201184820/https://www.isracast.com/article.aspx?id=374 |date=February 1, 2016 }}
*[http://shvilist.com/westernwall/ The Western Wall Online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219130055/http://shvilist.com/westernwall/ |date=February 19, 2019 }} – online services related to the Kotel: Prayer note, Live cam, and Information

'''Photographs'''
*[http://lifeintheholyland.com/wailing_wall_1960s.htm Wailing Wall to Western Wall (1960s)]
*[http://www.ianandwendy.com/Israel/Jerusalem/Western_Wall/slideshow.htm Photographs of the Western Wall (Summer 2007)]

'''Google Street View'''
*[https://maps.google.com/maps?q=jerusalem&hl=en&ll=31.776611,35.234045&spn=0.004661,0.007682&sll=40.713956,-75.322266&sspn=33.880079,62.929688&hnear=Jerusalem,+Israel&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=31.776673,35.234031&panoid=_UuBKNcQsc4lxDfjebqb4w&cbp=12,79.7,,0,-6.91 The Western Wall on Google Street View]

{{Temple Mount}}
{{Holy places in Judaism}}
{{Old City (Jerusalem)}}
{{Synagogues in Israel}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Western Wall| ]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 1st century BC]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Establishments in the Herodian kingdom]]
[[Category:Historic sites in Jerusalem]]
[[Category:Jews and Judaism in the Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Shrines in Jerusalem]]
[[Category:Status quo holy places]]
[[Category:Synagogues in Jerusalem]]
[[Category:Temple Mount]]
[[Category:Walls]]