Netanyahu won’t attend state Jerusalem Day ceremony where government critic is to recite memorial prayer

The Prime Minister’s Office announces Benjamin Netanyahu won’t take part in the official state Jerusalem Day ceremony at Ammunition Hill, claiming the premier is busy with matters relating to the ongoing war.

“The prime minister is busy with the war in the north and the south and therefore is prevented from taking part in the ceremonies this evening,” the statement reads.

The decision not to take part in the ceremony comes after Netanyahu initially was said to have barred former MK Shai Hermesh, from the now-defunct Kadima party, from taking part in the ceremony. The decision was later reversed, and Hermesh will read a memorial prayer at the event.

Hermesh was a former Israel Defense Forces soldier who fought in Jerusalem during the Six Day War. He and his family live in Kfar Aza, where Hamas terrorists rampaged as part of their October 7 attack, in which Hermesh’s son Omer was murdered.

According to Hebrew media reports last week, Hermesh was considered a particularly suitable candidate to read a memorial prayer during a state ceremony at Ammunition Hill on Jerusalem Day, which marks the city’s reunification following the 1967 war. However, he was blocked from participating over a column he wrote in the Haaretz daily describing the government as being “held hostage by a group of messianists,” referring to some ministers as convicted criminals and referencing Netanyahu’s corruption trial.