In a landmark ruling on the struggle over prayer at Judaism's holiest shrine, an Israeli court ruled Thursday that women can pray at the Western Wall wearing prayer shawls, contrary to Orthodox practice enforced at the site.

The ruling came after a string of incidents in recent months in which police detained women who wore the shawls while worshiping at the shrine, saying they had broken a law requiring prayer according to "local custom."

The arrests created an uproar in American Jewish communities and exposed a divide between Israel, where the Orthodox rabbinate has authority in religious matters, and the Jewish diaspora, where the more liberal reform and conservative movements are dominant.