Knesset member Rabbi Gilad Kariv, a new Labor lawmaker, arrived at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on the morning of April 13 with a group of activists calling themselves “Women of the Wall.” Standing in front of Judaism’s holiest site, Kariv pulled a Torah scroll out of his bag and the women held their customary prayer service marking the first day of the Hebrew month of Iyar.

For years, this women’s group has been fighting for the right to wear prayer shawls, pray and read from the Torah at the site, incurring the wrath of the dominant Orthodox stream of Judaism that bans women from engaging in such rituals or mixing with male worshipers.

According to regulations, worshippers are banned from bringing in Torah scrolls and allowed to use only those that are kept there. Kariv took advantage of his immunity as a Knesset member that prevented security guards from searching his bag.

The group’s arrival set off a storm. Orthodox worshipers tried to interrupt what for them was sacrilege. Within minutes, Knesset members from Israel’s ultra-Orthodox parties were apprised of the development and issued harsh condemnations of Kariv.