March of Flags approved for Jerusalem despite Hamas threats

The event was scheduled, as in every year, for Jerusalem Day which fell on May 10 but was cancelled due to severe tensions in the capital which resulted in the recent conflict in Gaza after Hamas fired rockets at Jerusalem later that day. 

New Public Security Minister Omer Barlev said on Monday afternoon that the police were well prepared for the march, against a background of ongoing tensions in east Jerusalem and calls from Hamas for Arab Israelis and east Jerusalem residents to confront the procession. 

The route of the march usually starts at Damascus Gate and wends its way through the Muslim Quarter and out to the Western Wall plaza in the Jewish quarter. 

The approved route for Tuesday’s march will see the parade dance in front of the Damascus Gate, but then proceed outside the Old City’s walls to the Jaffa Gate, down David Street which divides the Christian and Armenian Quarters and on down Chain Gate Street which divides the Muslim and Jewish Quarters and into the Western Wall plaza. 

Although the route does not go through the Muslim Quarter, David Street and Chain Gate Street do however run straight through the so-called Arab market of Palestinian vendors and tradesmen. 

Following evening meetings with Police Commissioner Yaakov (Kobi) Shabtai and senior officials in the IDF, Shin Bet and National Security Council, Barlev said he found “that the police are well prepared and a great effort was made to protect the delicate fabric of live and public safety.”

Asked about the event in a Labor faction meeting Monday, Barlev said: “The flag march will take place…Jerusalem is Israel’s eternal capital. In a democracy, you may and it is important to demonstrate and hold marches as long as they follow the law, and the police decides.”

On Monday evening, a Hamas spokesman threatened that the March of Flags could spark a new round of conflict “to protect al-Aqsa and Jerusalem,” and called on all Arab-Israelis and east Jerusalem residents to confront those participating in the march, according to a report by Channel 13 News. 

The event is being organized by a collection of right-wing and religious organizations, including Im Tirtzu, the Bnei Akiva, Ezra, and Ariel religious-Zionist youth movements, as well as several regional councils in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria).

Earlier on Monday, Rabbi Haim Druckman, one of the most senior and influential religious-Zionist rabbis, called for as large as possible number of participants for the march. 

“How joyful is it that Jerusalem has returned to our hands, the Dance of Flags expresses our great joy of the return of Jerusalem to the Jewish people,” said the rabbi. 

“Anyone who can should participate in the event because it expresses our true joy and our control over Jerusalem.”

Barlev’s decision to allow the march met with some opposition from within side the new government, with Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg of Meretz expressing opposition to the march and said it should have been cancelled. 

Yamina MK Nir Orbach warmly welcomed Barlev’s decision to allow the march to proceed, calling it “part of the religious-Zionist experience,” and “a march of joy.”

As for the diplomatic implications of the march, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid did not have a position on the matter as of Monday morning, his spokesman said.

A diplomatic source in Egypt, which mediated the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas ending last month’s Operation Guardian of the Walls, said that, although Hamas declared a “day of rage” to coincide with the Jerusalem March, they do not expect a serious escalation in violence.