A mere 24 hours after buses carrying worshippers to the Old City were targeted by rock throwers, thousands of people flocked to the Western Wall on Monday morning for the tradition Priestly Blessing of the Passover holiday, which this year is being held on Monday and Wednesday.
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In the ceremony, kohanim bless the people who arrive. The ceremony began at 9:30 a.m.
Fearing that the ongoing tensions could lead to rioting in Judea and Samaria, inside the Green Line, and in the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem District Police Commander Maj. Gen. Doron Turgeman has called on Israel's leaders and the Muslim religious officials to "behave responsibly."
"I don't intend to overlook any rioters," Turgeman said Sunday, expressing disappointment in the courts, which have released many of the rioters detained at the Temple Mount in the last few days, many of whom were arrested for attacking police.
"We know how to do our part, but few of the judges are partners," Turgeman said.
On Monday morning, police were still on the highest level of alert in Jerusalem, due to the concern that Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad would continue to incite against Israel in an attempt to stir up the Palestinian public ahead of the one-year anniversary of the violence that preceded Operation Guardian of the Walls in May 2021.
The police still hope that people will be able to worship in Jerusalem. Turgeman stressed that the police had no specific intelligence about planned terrorist attacks in Jerusalem, but the police's working assumption was that such attacks were being plotted, and police would increase their presence at leisure spots and areas of mixed populations.
When asked at a press briefing why security forces were not arresting Muslim preachers and other religious figures who are inciting to violence, Turgeman said any arrests for alleged incitement needed to be approved by the State Attorney's Office.
Police are expected to remain on high alert at least through June, given the number of religious and national holidays on the calendar.
Meanwhile, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation was preparing for thousands of Jewish visitors to arrive for the Priestly Blessing. The decision to hold the blessing on two different occasions was made for fear that the Western Wall plaza could become overcrowded. On Monday, Israel's chief rabbis Yitzhak Yosef and David Lau, as well as Rabbi of the Western Wall Shmuel Rabinovitch, were due to participate in the traditional blessing.
"I invite all the people of Israel to attend the Priestly Blessing during Passover. Our presence at the Western Wall is the eternal answer to all those who attack [us] and the violent rioters who make a pretense of acting in the name of faith," Rabinovitch said.
Sunday saw a renewal of the violence at the Temple Mount, with hundreds of Palestinians throwing rocks at security forces in an attempt to keep Jews from visiting the Mount. Security forces used riot control measures to allow Jews to visit.
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