Israel Police Chief Yaakov Shabtai on Wednesday held a security assessment ahead of the Jerusalem Day Flag Dance march. The meeting was attended by Jerusalem District Police Chief Doron Turgeman, Border Police Commander Amir Cohen, senior Shin Bet security agency and Foreign Ministry officials, and Military Intelligence officers, among others.
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The police chief ordered police on their highest alert and all officers on operational activity. Around 3,000 officers will be on duty to secure the march in Jerusalem, and thousands more will be dispatched across the country and in mixed Jewish-Arab cities. In addition, Border Police reserve battalions will also be put on immediate alert. The last time such reinforcements were sent was during the IDF's Operation Guardian of the Walls in the Gaza Strip in May 2021.
According to a source in the Israel Police, battalions operating in Judea and Samaria will replace those active in the Jerusalem periphery, which will in turn operate inside the city and its outskirts to respond to any security situation that arises.
Police are focusing their efforts on Jerusalem, including the Seam Zone east of the Green Line and west of the Jerusalem-adjacent security fence to contend with the phenomenon of undocumented Palestinians entering Israel illegally.
In an effort to stop disturbances before they happen, police have arrested dozens of people suspected of incitement and planning to stop the march. Officers have also issued warnings to individuals they believe could potentially disturb public order.
"We are prepared for any scenario," a police official told Israel Hayom. "The idea is to create minimum friction. We are prepared on the Temple Mount, and we do not expect disturbances on the mount."
Although Hamas has warned participants not to pass through the Damascus Gate, the official noted that in 2021, the terrorist organization fired rockets at Jerusalem despite participants avoiding the site. "It is important we keep the march in its current format and don't get to a point where if they threaten us, we don't hold it," the official said.
As for death threats against Otzma Yehudit MK Itamar Ben-Gvir, who plans to attend the march, the official said police would assess on Sunday whether his attendance posed any potential threat to public safety or to the lawmaker himself.
The official emphasized that any information indicating Jews planned to disturb the peace would also be handled by police.
Police dismissed false social reports alleging marchers would ascend the Temple Mount during the Flag Dance.
According to police, the flag march will kick off in Jerusalem's city center and make its way to the Western Wall in the Old City through the Damascus Gate. Some 8,000 people will make their way through Damascus Gate to the Western Wall, and another 8,000 will make their way to the Western Wall through Jaffa Gate.
Stages will be erected for the remaining march participants at the foot of the Western Wall.
While the march is underway, police will act to regulate pedestrian and vehicular traffic in the area, in particular adjacent to the Old City. Muslim worshipers will be able to enter the Temple Mount through the northern gates in an effort to separate them from the marchers.
From 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., police will close the following roads in the capital to traffic: Bezalel Street, King George Street, Egron Street, Yitsah Kariv Street, Hativat Yerushalayim Street, HaTzanhanim Street, Sultain Suleiman, and Haim Bar-Lev Street.
During the march, the Jerusalem light rail will not stop at stations adjacent to Tzahal Square, and public transportation will operate on alternate routes.
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