 The need for such an area became apparent when in 1989 , after repeated attacks by <unk> , activists belonging to a group called Women of the Wall petitioned to secure the right of women to pray at the wall without restrictions . In a 2003 directive , Israel 's Supreme Court disallowed any women from reading publicly from the Torah or wearing traditional prayer shawls at the plaza itself , but instructed the Israeli government to prepare the site of Robinson 's Arch to host such events . The site was inaugurated in August 2004 and has since hosted services by Reform and Conservative groups , as well as services by the Women of the Wall . In May 2013 a judge ruled that the 2003 Israeli Supreme Court ruling prohibiting women from carrying a Torah or wearing prayer shawls had been misinterpreted and that Women of the Wall prayer gatherings at the wall should not be deemed as disturbing the public order . 
