© The Western Wall Heritage Foundation via the Masorti Movement of Israel / Hadashot
A boulder from the Western Wall falls onto a prayer platform on July 23, 2018; Inset: Daniella Goldberg, who was praying a few meters away
A large boulder from the Western Wall was dislodged from the ancient structure on Monday morning, tumbling down
onto an egalitarian prayer platform.
There were no injuries in the incident near Robinson's Arch, south of the main prayer plaza, but the rock landed very close to a female worshiper.
"I didn't hear or feel anything until
it landed right at my feet, " said Daniella Goldberg, 79. She said she was praying at the site, as she does regularly, when suddenly the boulder crashed down. She told Hadashot TV news she "tried not to let the incident distract me from my prayers" and refused to be drawn on whether divine providence had spared her. "May we all be blessed," she said.
The smaller of two platforms designated for mixed-gender prayer at the site was closed until further notice.
"Israel Antiquities Authority officials are dealing with the incident," said Masorti movement head Yitzhar Hess in a statement posted on Twitter, alongside dramatic footage of the stone coming loose and crashing onto the platform, revealing dirt behind the wall.
"This is a wake-up call - we must check the entire Western Wall, both parts, so that heaven forbid there is no disaster in the future," he added.
The fallen boulder weighed about 220 pounds (100 kilos), Israel Radio said.
Comment: The MSM have gone full-blown hysterical after the Trump-Putin summit, with the manufactured outrage meeting epidemic proportions. Why would anyone, at this stage, believe anything they have to say?
See also: