Outside Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem, quiet after two years of protests

In contrast to the scene at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem’s epicenter for protests throughout the past two years is relatively quiet Monday morning as Israel receives seven living hostages from Hamas.

The streets near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home on Azza Street are virtually empty around 8:30 a.m., shortly before the seven hostages are transferred to the hands of the IDF. In front of Netanyahu’s private home, where traffic has been blocked almost constantly over the past two years due to protests, the quiet seems almost eerie, and passersby note that traffic hasn’t flowed as smoothly along the central traffic artery in years.

Up the block, at the protest tent outside the official Prime Minister’s Residence on Balfour Street, about 200 people have gathered to watch the release of the hostages on a large screen.

“I’m very excited,” says Laurie Tamres Maderer, standing in the crowd with her husband waving an Israeli flag. “I woke up early this morning to be here, to be able to celebrate our hostages coming home and the war ending completely.”