Equality campaigners say women in Jerusalem are facing discrimination and segregation because of the growing influence of ultra-religious Jewish leaders.
An attempt to ban women singing in public places is the latest move to spark protests after a few extremist Rabbis declared it too sexual for men to hear.
"The female voice is beautiful and it is fine for women to sing to each other but we do not want men exposed to the temptation," Yakov Halperin, a religious member of Jerusalem's City Council, said.
Women's rights groups have taken to organising public sing-a-longs in the street in response.
"We cannot let them silence us," one woman said as a crowd of about 100 women sang beside one of the city's main roads.
"This is a slippery slope and it's our democracy that's at stake," another protester said.
Even Israel's military, long a bastion of sexual equality, has been drawn into the row with some religious soldiers boycotting ceremonial events where female soldiers might be singing.
Military leaders have refused to bow to the demands for all male choirs.
The increasingly conservative attitude towards women reflects the steady demographic shift in Israel, particularly in Jerusalem.
The ultra-orthodox Jewish community - with its preference for large families - is the fastest expanding sector of society. Source/full story