Jerusalem on high alert ahead of Gay Pride Parade, rabbi’s funeral

The confluence of two high-profile events in Jerusalem this afternoon have police on high alert and citizens bracing themselves for traffic snarls and restricted movement.

Around 3 p.m., the Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade is slated to kick off from the Liberty Bell Park near the German Colony and march down Keren Hayesod and King George streets in the center of the capital.

An hour later, the funeral of Rabbi Uri Zohar, a famed figure in Israel’s film world who later became a Haredi rabbi, is slated to begin in the Romema neighborhood near the entrance to the city.

Threats have been made this year against the organizers of the Jerusalem parade, which is always under high security due to the opposition from many of the capital’s religious residents, and following a deadly stabbing attack at the 2015 march.