While the rest of us were busy celebrating Purim on Sunday night, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin took a tour of the Western Wall tunnels and had some advice for Israel.
But Palin said more than what you saw in that video.
World Likud chairman and Likud MK Danny Danon and Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz served as Palin’s tour guides on Sunday night. Palin was told that Jews were not allowed to pray openly on the Temple Mount and about the Arab riots that accompanied Netanyahu’s decision to authorize the creation of an exit from the Western Wall tunnels in 1996.I hope that Palin repeated her comments to Prime Minister Netanyahu when they dined together on Monday night, because unfortunately, the State of Israel doesn't appear to be listening (Hat Tip: Shy Guy).
“Why are you apologizing all the time?” Palin asked her guides.
Palin expressed regret that she would not be able to visit Nazareth or Bethlehem during her brief stay in Israel, but promised that she would soon come back for longer.
“It’s overwhelming to be able to see and touch the cornerstone of our faith,” Palin told reporters upon exiting the tunnels. “I’m so thankful to be able to be here, and I’m thankful to know the Israel-American connection will grow and strengthen as the peace negotiations continue.”
Rabinowitz said that Palin prayed at the point closest to the Holy of Holies and left a note with a personal prayer. Unlike the incident that occurred when then-presidential candidate Barack Obama visited the Western Wall in July 2008, nobody removed her note from the Wall and gave it to the press.
“She said that she absolutely supports Israel and that America is the biggest friend that Israel has,” Rabinowitz said.
When Rabinowitz shared the story of Purim with Palin, she told him it was especially meaningful to be at the Kotel on Purim.
Danon said that Palin’s visit to the Western Wall Tunnels was very exciting.
“She really connected to the story of the Jewish nation,” Danon said. “She knows the material but there’s nothing like standing in front of those big stones and hearing about the connection. I know that she loves Israel, and after a visit like this, she has a personal connection to the Western Wall.”
He called upon Obama to make his first visit to Israel as president as soon as possible.
Palin, who was wearing a large Star of David, told Danon that she had flags of Israel “on my desk, in my home, all over the place” and that she would carry around a flag she bought in Israel.
“She didn’t go into diplomatic issues, but I can clearly say from the questions she asked in relation to our conflict here with the Muslims in these holy sites that she knows that we are right and that the Muslims are just claiming things for provocation and they’re not right,” Danon said.
The State's representatives have determined that the "Kotel HaKatan" ("Small Kotel" or "Small Wailing Wall"), a wall which is a continuation of the Kotel in Jerusalem, is not a holy site. The statement was submitted to the court as part of the reply to a damages lawsuit filed by a group of Jews who prayed at the Small Kotel on Rosh HaShana of 5767 (2006).
One member of the group, Elihu Kleiman, was arrestedafter he blew the ram's horn, or shofar. The group of Jews who sued for damages also said they were beaten by police, who denied them their freedom to worship at a holy site.
The "Small Kotel" is nothing but "an inner courtyard of several residential homes in the Muslim quarter," the State determined in its response.
Like the Kotel, the Kotel HaKatan is an exposed face of the original western wall of the Temple Mount, built by King Herod over 2,000 years ago. However, compared to its famous "bigger brother," the Small Wall is less accessible and looks less impressive: it is barely 10 meters long, less of its height has been exposed and its plaza is much narrower.
In fact, however, the Kotel HaKatan can be considered holier than the better known Kotel, because it is located 200 yards to the north – and therefore practically opposite the actual site of the Holy of Holies in the original Holy Temples.
