Leak of Obama's Western Wall prayer note to be probed

Jerusalem, Sept 5 (PTI) Israeli police is to launch an
investigation into the events surrounding the publication of
U.S. Presidential candidate Barack Obama's private note of
prayer, which he had placed in the Western Wall in Jerusalem
during his visit to Israel in June.

The note written by Obama was extracted from the Wall,
the holiest site for the Jews, by a 'Yeshiva' (religious
institution) student and published the next day by an Israeli
daily 'Maariv'.

Deputy State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan in his order,
refrained from taking legal action against those responsible
for publishing the note saying, it "could give birth to an
undesired phenomenon, one which would turn the Western Wall
into an endless source of celebrity gossip".

The prosecution claimed that the note's removal and
subsequent publishing violated Obama's right of privacy as
well as the laws pertaining to religious sites.

It also asserted that the age-old custom of placing notes
at the Western Wall was threatened by the youth's actions as
worshipper's may now fear for privacy.

Nitzan concluded that an investigation should be
forthcoming in order to maintain privacy laws and laws
protecting holy sites.

Several days after the contents of Obama's note were
published, the chief Rabbi of the Western Wall, Shmuel
Rabinowitz, sent a letter to the Democratic candidate
expressing 'deep regret' over the incident.

He dubbed the act a "desecration of the Lord and the
site", and promised to take measures to prevent future
incidents of this kind. The student who removed the note also
apologised and returned it to its former location. PTI