The diplomatic-security cabinet on Tuesday gave the go-ahead for the so-called "flag march" in Jerusalem's Old City next week, June 15, if organizers and police can reach an agreement. The decision came a day after police barred the event's route, fearing it would rekindle conflict between Israel and Palestinian terrorists in Gaza.
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"The flag march will happen," a Likud official told Israel Hayom. "[Attorney General Avichai] Mendelblit forced [Public Security Minister Amir] Ohana and Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu to enable the cabinet to decide on the march. The vote in the cabinet was a tie. Therefore, the prime minister insisted and concluded that the march will take place early next week, so as not to surrender to Hamas' dictates."
Several right-wing Israeli groups had planned a flag-waving procession through the walled Old City's Damascus Gate and into its Muslim Quarter last Thursday, drawing warnings from the Hamas terrorist organization, which controls the Gaza Strip, of renewed hostilities should it proceed.
Israel Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai had voiced his concerns to the prime minister about holding the march along the original route, saying the police would struggle to safeguard the event on an operational level if it passes through Damascus Gate and the Muslim Quarter.
"Such a route could ignite an entire country. The concern is that it will incite riots in Wadi Ara, the south, in Acre, in Haifa, and in mixed cities. There are not enough police officers in light of the existing missions," a police official said. The Shin Bet security agency suggested holding the event at the Western Wall plaza. Shabtai is expected to present an alternative route to the political echelon on Wednesday.
"The parade will take place this coming Tuesday in a format to be agreed between the police and the parade's organizers," a statement from Netanyahu's office said.
Prior to the cabinet vote, Hamas boasted: "The cancellation of the flag march is proof of the new equation we have set, whereby Jerusalem is a red line."
Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas leader in Gaza, told reporters: "Hamas warns the occupier [Israel], the mediators and the entire world against the flag march through the Old City and al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Hamas' message is clear: We don't want the Thursday event to be like what happened after May 10," he added, referring to the day before the recent round of fighting between Israel and Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza.
"Jerusalem for us is a red line. We are not fond of wars, but our resistance is ready to defend the holy city," al-Hayya said.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz, seeking to avoid a security escalation, said: "Considering the challenges, I will continue to spearhead a responsible policy from a security standpoint. I will not let political considerations be a part of this issue…"
Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen, meanwhile, told Army Radio before the cabinet vote: "We won't give in, the march must be held. In the State of Israel, a Jew can walk with the Israeli flag and be proud."
Far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir rejected the march's postponement as "surrender to Hamas," saying on Twitter he would still "arrive on Thursday in the Old City of Jerusalem and march with Israeli flags."
A new government is expected to be sworn in this coming Sunday, June 13, if it receives the requisite votes in the Knesset. If the new government is indeed sworn in, the flag march will take place two days later, as stated, on June 15, meaning it will be the headache of the designated prime minister, Naftali Bennett, of the Yamina party.
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