A new storm is brewing, threatening to ignite the capital: The Hamas terrorist group on Saturday morning issued a call to Palestinian residents of Jerusalem to protest at the Temple Mount if the controversial "flag march" by nationalist and religious Israelis takes place as planned on Thursday, June 10.
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Muhammad Hamadeh, Hamas' spokesman in east Jerusalem wrote in a statement to the press that the organization was "warning Israel against using Jerusalem as a tool to evade its internal crisis and its failure to resolve its political problems." Hamadeh called on the residents of east Jerusalem and Arab Israelis to go to the Temple Mount and its environs to "protect the al-Aqsa mosque from the malice of the Zionists and their schemes."
The march, originally scheduled to take place on Jerusalem Day on May 10, was canceled by police as Hamas launched rockets towards the city.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz said on Saturday night he would not support holding the march if it necessitated any special security effort. His comments sparked an outcry from right-wing leaders, who accused him of kowtowing to Hamas threats.
Minister of Regional Cooperation Ofir Akunis (Likud) said, "The security forces need to provide security to the marchers. If we give up Jerusalem, we will have given up everything."
Religious Zionist Party chairman Bezalel Smotrich posted an angry Twitter statement in which he lambasted Gantz. "We didn't wait 2,000 years for an independent and sovereign Jewish state for a cowardly defense minister to publicly surrender to Hamas' threats of terror (and essentially inviting more threats and terror) and seeks to prevent Jews from marching with the flags of Israel in Jerusalem – the holy and "united" capital city. I expect Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu and Public Security Minister [Amir Ohana] to make it clear that the march will be held."
The annual event, which celebrates Israel conquering east Jerusalem and gaining control over the Old City's religious sites, is often contentious – especially the section of the march which passes through the Muslim Quarter in the Old City.
The route of the march, however, still has not been approved by the police. In the coming days, police officials will convene assessment briefings and toward the middle of the week will be expected to inform the organizers whether the route, which is supposed to pass through Damascus Gate in the Old City, approved or not. The final say on the matter, meanwhile, will likely belong to the political echelon, which could decide, contrary to the position of the police, to alter the router or cancel the march altogether in an attempt to avoid escalating tensions.
Indeed, concerns exist that it could ignite sectarian tensions in the capital and torpedo the so-called "pro-change government" – which for the time being appears to have secured the necessary 61 seats to form an administration.
Heightened tensions between Jews and Muslims could pressure the Jewish nationalist Yamina party and Islamist Ra'am faction to withdraw from the so-called "pro-change government."
Both parties halted coalition talks when violence between Israel and terrorist groups in Gaza began last month, before returning to discussions and agreeing to join a coalition with the Yesh Atid party.
Meretz MK Esawi Frej said he asked Israel Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai to cancel the march, saying on Twitter that it was "a provocation that looks like an attempt to reignite the violence in our region, perhaps in the desire that it will serve some political interest or another."
Yesh Atid MK Ram Ben-Barak suggested on Saturday that rescheduling the march to June 10 was an attempt to disrupt the country's incoming government.
"We are at the beginning of difficult days in which a lot of pressure and attempts will be made to thwart the [pro-change government], but in the end, a new era will begin here. The will to form a government that will unite the division in Israeli society will overcome all attempts to thwart it," Ben-Barak tweeted.
March organizers said in a statement: "We will demand the unification of Jerusalem for eternity. We will return to marching in the streets of Jerusalem with heads held high and the Israeli flag. We will sing and dance for the Land of Zion and Jerusalem. Come one and come all to raise the flag and celebrate in the joy of Jerusalem."
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