A large rock from the Western Wall fell down onto the egalitarian section of the Kotel Plaza on Monday, narrowly missing a woman praying at the site.
Frightening footage shows the heavy stone, described as weighing over 100 kg, becoming dislodged from the Wall — seemingly of its own accord.
It crashes down onto the mixed prayer area at Robinson’s Arch, which was largely empty at the time.
נס בעזרת ישראל.
— Roey Shabtay (@roeysh) July 23, 2018
אם היה קורה אתמול כשהיו הרבה מתפללים היה יכול להיות אסון. pic.twitter.com/mnAaQ0QpvF
Yitzhar Hess, head of the Masorti Movement, described the incident on Twitter as “a wake-up call.”
“We must check the entire Western Wall, so that heaven forbid there is no disaster in the future,” he continued, confirming Israel Antiquities Authority were examing the incident.
Yesterday was the fast of Tisha B’Av, one of the busiest days of the year at the Kotel, as Jews gather to mourn the destruction of the Temple.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and Shlomo Eskol, chief engineer of the Jerusalem municipality, inspected the site on Monday morning.
Mr Barkat called it “a great miracle” that no one was hurt. On Mr Eshkol’s instructions, the area has been closed off until IAA inspectors confirm it is safe.
The video footage shows that the section of stone which crumbled came from the original Herodian wall, which is over 2,000 years old.
The last incident where stones from the wall crumbled and fell onto a prayer plaza came on Yom Kippur in 2004, leaving one worshipper slightly injured.
