Security cabinet: Contentious Jerusalem flag march can be held next week

The high-level security cabinet votes to allow the contentious right-wing flag march to be held in Jerusalem’s Old City on Tuesday, June 15, if police approve the route.

The compromise proposal is brought by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz and signed off by ministers. It says the event can go ahead “in a framework that will be agreed upon by police and organizers,” according to a statement.

Organizers had sought to hold a rescheduled flag march through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City on Thursday, after the original march on May 10 was stopped short by rocket fire from Hamas at Jerusalem, which sparked an 11-day bout of intense fighting. But security officials were opposed to the nationalist organizers’ intention to have the parade pass through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, warning it could spark tensions.

The rescheduled date, Tuesday, will be two days after the Knesset holds a confidence vote to approve the new government, which would remove Netanyahu from power.

Participants in the Flag March in Jerusalem’s Old City on May 10, 2021. (Nati Shohat/Flash90

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