Bennett: Flag march will take place on Jerusalem Day, not now

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is defending his decision to not back a nationalist march through the Old City, saying he is steering the country through the current crisis “with determination, but responsibly.”

He says a flag march will take place on Jerusalem Day, next month, as it does every year.

“The main thing is protecting residents of the capital,” he tells Army Radio in a recorded interview. “You can’t ignore the fact that this is a very sensitive and flammable period. We’re managing it with sensitivity.”

He says banning firebrand MK Itamar Ben Gvir from Damascus Gate, where the march will enter the Old City, is justified.

“There’s a limit to freedom,” he says, comparing the situation to a person yelling fire in a theater.

Bennett also says his decision to bar Jewish entry to the Temple Mount for the last 10 days of Ramadan is in line with a policy put in place by his predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu.