A spiritual visit by the US vice-president, Mike Pence, to Jerusalem’s Western Wall has been overshadowed after female journalists were forced to stand behind their male counterparts in a fenced-off area.
While women and men are separated by the ultra-Orthodox Jewish authority that runs the plaza, both sexes are normally able to look into each other’s section. During previous visits by Donald Trump and Barack Obama, sexes were divided although female reporters and photographers were afforded an unobstructed view.
One reporter, Noga Tarnopolsky, said authorities had gone too far on Tuesday with female press members “penned off behind the men, which has zero to do with any ‘religious rule’”.
Images shared by reporters on Tuesday showed men in front on a raised and covered platform, blocking a clean line of sight.
When it's a bit hard to do your job / women journalists forced to stand behind the men at the separation fence at the western wall for Mike Pence's visit #PenceInIsrael #PenceFence pic.twitter.com/IsXbJ0jTi5
— Ariane Ménage (@ariane_menage) January 23, 2018
Following complaints, White House personnel removed the covering so female journalists could stand on chairs for a better view.
However, diplomatic and political correspondent Tal Schneider, who writes for the Hebrew-language Globes newspaper, tweeted a photo of her view obscured even after the canvas has been taken down.
“[I]f you are a male you can do your work and get the best front seat and if you are a second-class citizen as I am, this is what we see & report,” she wrote.
Follow me for a “clear” shot of the @VP visit to the western wall where if you are a male you can do your work and get the best front seat and if you are a second class citizen as I am, this is what we see & report pic.twitter.com/CN1rBzFMmO
— Tal Schneider (@talschneider) January 23, 2018
Schneider told the AFP that US officials said that the arrangement was at the insistence of ultra-Orthodox Jewish authorities at the site.
“Every effort was made to accommodate both female and male journalists while observing the rules in place at the Western Wall,” Pence spokeswoman Alyssa Farrah said later.
Following decades of outrage over segregation in which men have a more extensive area and women are not permitted to read aloud from the Torah, the Israeli government agreed in 2016 for a multi-sex space to be opened.
But following pressure from ultra-Orthodox parties last summer, the cabinet of the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, suspended the plan.
The ancient limestone blocks that make the Western Wall – the holiest site where Jews can pray – also constitute a site revered by Muslims, which they call al-Haram al-Sharif.
Pence’s stop at the wall completed a two-day visit to Israel, the highest-level US trip since Trump announced his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The declaration broke longstanding diplomatic consensus that the issue should be decided in peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.
The Western Wall sits in the Old City, which Israel captured in 1967 and later annexed in a move that has not been recognised internationally.
Pence has also been accused of sexist double standards in the past, reportedly not dining alone with women and insisting only male aides assist him when he works late.
