[Video below.] A scaled-down Birchas Kohanim was held Sunday in Yerushalayim’s Old City under strict wartime restrictions, preventing the usual massive crowds from gathering at the Kosel as Iranian missile threats continue.

The ceremony took place as rabbinic leaders and public figures intensified calls to ease limits imposed by the IDF Home Front Command, pointing to a recent High Court ruling issued on Shabbos that allowed up to 600 participants at a protest in Tel Aviv.

Due to security directives, attendance at the Kosel was capped at just 50 individuals, and the BirKas Kohanim was conducted in a covered area rather than the main plaza, marking a significant departure from the traditional gathering that typically draws tens of thousands.

Among those present were Yerushalayim Mayor Moshe Lion and the Chief Rabbis, Rav Kalman Ber and Rav Dovid Yosef. The vast majority of the tzibbur was unable to attend and instead followed the event through a live broadcast.

Shortly before the ceremony began, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation issued a renewed appeal to the Home Front Command to reconsider the restrictions limiting access to the Kosel plaza.

“I find it difficult to understand why the right to protest is perceived as more important or more urgent than the right to pray,” said Rav Shmuel Rabinowitz, head of the foundation.

“The Kosel is the beating heart of the Jewish people,” he added. “If the security reality permits hundreds of people to gather in public squares for demonstrations, all the more so it should allow Jews to assemble at the Kosel Plaza.”

Following the conclusion of the ceremony, Sephardic Chief Rabbi Rav Dovid Yosef sharpened his criticism of the High Court, coming a day after his strong remarks against the court’s stance on protests during wartime while access to the Kosel remained restricted.

“The High Court understands lawlessness in the name of freedom of protest,” he said.

“They call it ‘pikuach nefesh,’ nothing less,” Rav Yosef added.

Rav Yosef also voiced support for Rav Rabinowitz’s request that the Home Front Command reevaluate the current security policies governing the Kosel.

“We turn to the professionals who truly understand ‘pikuach nefesh,’” Rav Yosef said. “The High Court does not understand pikuach nefesh, the Home Front Command does, and here we declare that the Rabbi of the Western Wall and the Chief Rabbis will act according to the instructions of the Home Front Command, because we know what safeguarding every Jewish life means.”