Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount raised the Israeli flag while singing “Hatikva,” as over a thousand Jews visited the complex on Jerusalem Day on Thursday.
Video from the scene showed a man carrying a small flag while the group walking with him sang the Israeli national anthem. The man carrying the flag was detained. At least three additional individuals raised Israeli flags on the Mount on Thursday as well.
A number of ministers and MKs visited the Temple Mount on Thursday, including Negev and Galilee and National Resilience Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf (Otzma Yehudit) and Likud MKs Dan Illouz, Ariel Kallner and Amit Halevi.
“The Temple Mount is the holiest place for the Jewish people,” said Illouz. “It’s not my first time there and I’m always excited to go up the Mount. It is inconceivable to accept a claim as if the presence of Jews in a certain place, especially in the holiest place for the people of Israel, is an extreme act. As someone who immigrated to Israel from abroad, to the state of the Jews, out of deep Zionism, I cannot accept an argument that says that the very presence of Jews in a certain place is a provocation. This is unacceptable. I intend to ask God in this holy place to work for the unity of Israel and for the prosperity of the State of Israel in the face of many challenges facing us.”
During the visits, Israeli police arrested a number of al-Aqsa guards, according to Palestinian reports.
Jewish visitors raise an Israeli flag on the Temple Mount on Jerusalem Day, May 18, 2023. (Credit: Avraham Bloch/Maariv)
Degel Hatorah chairman Moshe Gafni called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ban MKs from visiting the Temple Mount, stressing that such visits can affect diplomatic relations, incite Muslims and “desecrates the sanctity of the site.”
Tens of thousands expected to march through Muslim Quarter
The visits came ahead of the planned Jerusalem Day flag march, in which tens of thousands of Israelis are expected to march through the Muslim and Jewish Quarters of the Old City to the Western Wall.
مستوطنون وجنود الاحتلال يعتدون على فلسطينيين في البلدة القديمة بالقدس، قُبيل انطلاق “مسيرة الأعلام”. pic.twitter.com/9N11Ct6Jbx
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) May 18, 2023
The march will be conducted on its traditional route, departing from the center of the city along King George and Agron streets before splitting into two, with men continuing through Damascus Gate and the Muslim Quarter and women continuing through Jaffa Gate before meeting up again at the Western Wall.
تغطية صحفية: اعتداءات قوات الاحتلال على الفلسطينيين في البلدة القديمة بالقدس المحتلة. pic.twitter.com/2Ape5d2rUK
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) May 18, 2023
A number of Jews carrying Israeli flags headed to the Damascus Gate area ahead of the flag march, with scuffles breaking out in the area between Jews, Arabs and police. Scuffles between Jews and Muslims were also reported in additional locations throughout the Muslim Quarter of the Old City.
The police stressed on Thursday that inciting and false posts were being shared on social media “in an attempt to heat up the area and throw sand in the eyes of the public,” including by using old or selective videos.
The defense establishment is also preparing for the possibility of rocket fire from Gaza during the flag march. On Tuesday, Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades published a social media post featuring al-Aqsa Mosque with rockets flying in the background and the text “the Sword of Jerusalem [the name used by Palestinian factions for Operation Guardian of the Walls] will not be sheathed.”
On Wednesday, the Sons of Al-Zawari balloon unit announced that it was planning to launch incendiary balloons and stage riots along the Gaza border. Additionally, a “Palestinian flag event” is set to be held along the border, east of Gaza City.
Salah al-Bardawil, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, warned on Wednesday that “the march of the Zionist flags will not pass, and the response will inevitably come,” according to Arabic-language media.
Between 3,200 and 3,500 Israel Police officers and volunteers will operate throughout the city to secure the revelries and direct traffic, with 2,500 allocated to the Flag March alone. As of Tuesday, fifteen suspects had been arrested and 37 others were issued restraining orders ahead of Jerusalem Day. Police stressed that the march will not enter the Temple Mount or any of its gates.
Police called on marchers and the rest of the public to obey police instructions and to avoid any manifestation of physical or verbal violence. “Disturbances and manifestations of violence of any kind will be dealt with decisively by the police forces,” stressed Chief Superintendent Yoram Segal from the Jerusalem District Police.
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