Israeli far-right hijack Jerusalem Day celebrations with ‘death to Arabs’ chants and Temple Mount prayer

Members of the Israeli far-right called for “death to the Arabs” and violated the ban on Jewish prayer at the Temple Mount during the country’s Yom Yerushalayim celebrations.

The occasion, which commemorates the anniversary of the end of the Six Day War in 1967, is meant to celebrate the reunification of Jerusalem after the West Bank, including the eastern part of the city, was annexed by Jordan in 1950.

The short conflict saw Israel prevail over a coalition of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Iraq after the renewal of tensions still simmering from the War of Independence and the Suez Crisis.

As in many others, this year’s edition was largely peaceful, with a parade in the city to remember those who gave their lives in the war and express the city’s unity across communities.

However, the event has always attracted some degree of political tension due to the centrality of the holy sites in Jerusalem to the Israel-Palestine conflict – a phenomenon which has only increased since October 7, 2023.

This year, nationalist protestors reportedly travelled to the city from surrounding areas and marched through predominantly Muslim neighbourhoods chanting “death to the Arabs” and “may your village burn”.

According to France 24, local shops closed early and police lined the road as the demonstrators made their way through the streets.

A police spokesperson said officers had “acted swiftly to prevent violence, confrontations, and provocations”.

The protest also reportedly clashed with volunteers from Standing Together and Free Jerusalem, a pair of peace advocacy groups, who tried to separate the crowd from local residents.

In a separate incident, members of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, including party leader Itamar Ben-Gvir, were photographed breaking the prohibition on Jewish prayer at the Temple Mount.

The mount is the holiest site in Judaism but is also the location of the Al-Aqsa mosque and is under the auspices of the Jerusalem Waqf. By agreement with the Israeli government, which administers acces to the site, religious Jews are allowed to enter in groups of 50 at a time and Jewish tourists can visit for up to four hours, five days a week.

In return, the government has long maintained an unofficial prohibition of Jewish prayer on the mount.

Elsewhere, far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir allowed supporters to breach the prohibition on Jewish prayer at the Temple MountFlash90

But Ben-Gvir, whose role as national security minister includes responsibility for policing, said on Monday that it was his policy to allow prayer, including full prostration.

Accompanied by party colleagues Yitzhak Wasserlauf and Yitzhak Kroizer, he said: “Today, thank God, it is possible to pray on the Temple Mount, to bow down on the Temple Mount — we thank God for that.”

Krozier was later pictured prostrating himself alongside several others in view of police officers.

Meanwhile, Zvi Sukkot, an MK for the far-right Religious Zionism party, reportedly walked across the site waving an Israeli flag and saying: “The Temple Mount is in our hands.”

The Prime Minister’s Office is yet to comment on Ben-Gvir’s actions or the alleged relaxation of policing around the prayer ban in recent years, but did tell the Times of Israel: “Israel’s policy concerning the Temple Mount has not changed.”