Ministers convene at Jerusalem town hall to decide on the Flag Parade
The weekly cabinet session took place at the Jerusalem municipality on Sunday to mark Jerusalem day. They are debating whether to take the advice of security officials and call off or reroute Monday’s traditional Flag Parade through the Old City streets to the Western Wall in view of the tense atmosphere following violent Palestinian riots in the capital up until Sunday morning. There are fears for the parade’s safety from Palestinian attacks as well as a fresh outbreak of the violence that has marked Ramadan worship on Temple Mount for the past three days. PM Binyamin Netanyahu opened the session by pledging that Israel will continue to uphold the freedom of worship in Jerusalem for members of all faiths, but, he said, “I am informing all terrorist groups to prepare for a strong Israeli response for any acts of aggression from the Gaza Strip or in Jerusalem, the Jewish people’s eternal capital.”