 Most Jews , religious and secular , consider the wall to be important to the Jewish people since it was originally built to hold the Second Temple . They consider the capture of the wall by Israel in 1967 as a historic event since it restored Jewish access to the site after a 19 @-@ year gap . There are , however , some haredi Jews who hold opposing views . Most notable are the adherents of the Satmar hasidic dynasty who retain the views espoused by their Grand Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum , who would not approach the Wall after the 1967 conquest , although he did visit the site during his visits to the Holy Land in the 1920s . 
