World Holocaust Forum set to strangle traffic in Jerusalem and beyond

The first part of Israel’s commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz has drawn to a close. The second, larger part, dubbed the Fifth World Holocaust Forum, begins tomorrow at Yad Vashem, and will include US Vice President Mike Pence, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Britain’s Prince Charles and others who will arrive in the morning to join the dozens of world leaders already here.

As police notices make clear tonight, all that welcome attention to the cause of stamping out anti-Semitism and intolerance carries a more prosaic cost to the residents of Israel’s capital who must play host to the largest-ever diplomatic gathering in Israel’s history.

That cost in a word: traffic.

Beginning at 7 a.m., the start of morning rush hour, Route 1 into the capital will be closed to traffic, as Pence and Putin are both landing at Ben Gurion at around 8 a.m. Yes, the main highway into Israel’s mountaintop capital will be closed at the height of the morning rush hour.

As world leaders pass along the route, other areas, including the main entrance to the city, Rabin Boulevard and parts of downtown will be shuttered until about 10 a.m. Roads around the Knesset, such as Rupin and Ben-Tzvi, as well as areas crossing the center of town, including Agron and King David streets, will also be closed for much of the day.

Starting in the afternoon, roads heading to the western reaches of the city, especially around Herzl Boulevard, the main throughfare to Yad Vashem, will be shuttered.

In the evening, the whole cascade of closures will replay itself, only in reverse, as dozens of world leaders head to their planes at Ben Gurion.

The disruption is likely to affect areas far beyond Jerusalem. The traffic corridors to the capital are also vital access routes to several nearby cities, such as Beit Shemesh and Mevasseret Tzion. The closures will also stop public transportation for those hours, upping the number of private cars on alternate roads, and so spreading the traffic troubles ever outward.