JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Israel’s Sephardic Chief Rabbi David Yosef delivered a fiery speech during Jerusalem Day celebrations at Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva, sharply criticizing Israel’s Supreme Court and declaring that the Western Wall “does not belong to the Reform movement.”

Addressing a large crowd gathered at the Jerusalem yeshiva, Rabbi Yosef said ongoing legal disputes surrounding the administration and status of the Western Wall were the result of judicial intervention.

“Enough is enough. It shall not happen — the Western Wall is ours,” the chief rabbi said.

He told attendees that he had previously submitted a detailed halachic opinion regarding the sanctity and history of the site to Israel’s Supreme Court through attorneys representing the Chief Rabbinate.

Rabbi Yosef also accused the court of showing contempt toward halacha and the rabbinate, saying judges should refrain from interfering in matters related to the holy site.

“The Western Wall does not belong to the Reform movement, the Wall does not belong to the Supreme Court,” he said, calling on judges to “remove your hands from the Western Wall.”

Disputes over prayer arrangements and religious authority at the Western Wall have long fueled tensions between Israel’s Orthodox religious establishment and non-Orthodox Jewish movements, particularly regarding egalitarian prayer spaces and recognition of Reform and Conservative Judaism at the site.