--- description: Female journalists found themselves cordoned off behind male colleagues when Vice President Mike Pence visited the Western Wall title: Women Reporters Say They Were Sidelined at Western Wall image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8af4e9e4329a2bec/6988f948cf40a8041fc4b107/gettyimages-909131092.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Israel](/tag/israel/) ## Israel Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Women Journalists Denied a View During Mike Pence's Visit to the Western Wall by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 24, 2018 4:32 AM CUT  Vice President Mike Pence visits Jerusalem's Western Wall on Jan. 23, 2018. Vice President Mike Pence visits Jerusalem's Western Wall on Jan. 23, 2018.Thomas Coex—AFP/Getty Images by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 24, 2018 4:32 AM CUT Female journalists found themselves [cordoned off behind their male colleagues](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/01/23/for-female-journalists-strip-searches-and-segregation-mar-pences-visit-to-israel/?utm%5Fterm=.d3d98209ce00 "undefined") while covering Vice President Mike Pence’s trip to the Western Wall in Jerusalem Tuesday. Visitors to the sacred site are segregated by gender, but during past media events both men and women have typically been granted a space from which they can actually see. The Western Wall Heritage Foundation, an ultra-orthodox religious organization that administers the grounds, arranged a [viewing platform for female journalists](http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Women-journalists-left-behind-gender-barrier-as-Pence-visits-Western-Wall-539588 "undefined") inside the women’s section, according to _The Jerusalem Post_, but female journalists at the scene said their view was obstructed. Pence’s staff ultimately [removed an awning covering the platform](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/23/female-journalists-mike-pence-western-wall-jerusalem "undefined"), providing space for the women to stand on chairs to see over their male colleagues’ equipment. But outraged female journalists said their view was still obstructed by scaffolding and the men’s platform, which stood in their sightline to the Vice President, _the Guardian_ reports. Tal Schneider, a diplomatic and political correspondent for Israel’s Hebrew-language _Globes_ newspaper, tweeted a photo of her view, [writing that female journalists](https://twitter.com/talschneider/status/955762756833218561 "undefined") “deserve the first row, not the ‘women at the back of the bus.'” > [](https://twitter.com/talschneider/status/955765567486615552) Pence visited the Western Wall as part of an four day Middle East tour, in which he told Israel’s parliament that the U.S. planned to relocate its Embassy to Jerusalem as early as 2019\. President Trump’s decision last month to move the Embassy stoked controversy and raised fears that the contentious move could [endanger the fraught peace process](http://time.com/5044973/why-president-trumps-jerusalem-decision-could-derail-middle-east-peace-talks/ "undefined") between Israel and Palestine, which regards East Jerusalem as its eventual capital. Other female journalists covering Pence’s visit expressed frustration on Twitter, using the hashtag [#PenceFence](https://twitter.com/hashtag/PenceFence?src=hash "undefined"). > [](https://twitter.com/ariane%5Fmenage/status/955754520671391744) > [](https://twitter.com/NTarnopolsky/status/955757025149022208) Pence spokesperson Alyssa Farah issued a statement in response to the incident, saying “every effort was made to accommodate both female and male journalists while observing the rules in place at the Western Wall,” while the Western Wall Heritage Foundation told Israel’s Channel 10 that its efforts were to [offer “maximum accessibility”](https://www.jta.org/2018/01/23/default/female-reporters-were-kept-separate-from-men-during-mike-pences-western-wall-visit#.WmeqJZZV1zp.twitter "undefined") for journalists covering the event. On previous visits by Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama, female journalists [were afforded a clear view](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/23/female-journalists-mike-pence-western-wall-jerusalem "undefined"), according to _the Guardian_. “I have never seen something like today’s arrangement, with women fenced behind men. Normally for visits its separate but equalish,” [wrote](https://twitter.com/NTarnopolsky/status/955911710950461440 "undefined") reporter Noga Tarnopolsky. But Tovah Lazaroff, deputy managing editor for _the Jerusalem Post_, said that male journalists [received similar “preferential treatment”](https://twitter.com/tovahlazaroff/status/955844309978353664?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref%5Furl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2Fsections%2Fparallels%2F2018%2F01%2F23%2F579678000%2Ffemale-journalists-complain-of-obstructed-view-at-pences-western-wall-visit "undefined") when U.N. Ambassador [Nikki Haley visited the Western Wall](https://www.timesofisrael.com/nikki-haley-says-it-was-a-blessing-to-visit-western-wall/ "undefined") in June. “The issue here is gender discrimination,” she said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5115901/female-journalists-blocked-mike-pence-jerusalem-western-wall/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5115901/female-journalists-blocked-mike-pence-jerusalem-western-wall/"},"headline":"Women Journalists Denied a View During Mike Pence's Visit to the Western Wall","datePublished":"2018-01-24T04:32:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:59:29.620Z","description":"Women had to stand on chairs behind men","url":"https://time.com/5115901/female-journalists-blocked-mike-pence-jerusalem-western-wall/","keywords":["Israel","Jerusalem","Mike Pence","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8af4e9e4329a2bec/6988f948cf40a8041fc4b107/gettyimages-909131092.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eli Meixler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eli/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8af4e9e4329a2bec/6988f948cf40a8041fc4b107/gettyimages-909131092.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-US-CONFLICT-DIPLOMACY-JERUSALEM","caption":"ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-US-CONFLICT-DIPLOMACY-JERUSALEM","creditText":"Thomas Coex—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/israel/","name":"Israel"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5115901/female-journalists-blocked-mike-pence-jerusalem-western-wall/","name":"Women Journalists Denied a View During Mike Pence's Visit to the Western Wall"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Protests Erupt During Vice President Pence's Speech in Jerusalem","description":"Protests Erupt During Vice President Pence's Speech in Jerusalem","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/rKZqhsdL/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-01-22T15:54:28.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/rKZqhsdL.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5115901/female-journalists-blocked-mike-pence-jerusalem-western-wall/","duration":"PT59S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5115901/female-journalists-blocked-mike-pence-jerusalem-western-wall/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```