The Israel Police has completed its preparations for Jerusalem Day events later this week, including the traditional flag parade, which is expected to draw tens of thousands of Jews to the Old City, the force said on Monday.
Jerusalem Day celebrations are set to take place this Thursday across Israel’s capital. As large crowds are expected, the public is encouraged to plan ahead, stay updated on traffic changes and road closures, and follow instructions from officers deployed on the ground. pic.twitter.com/4tdaHZbOeL
— Israel Police (@israelpolice) May 11, 2026
Thousands of police officers, Border Police personnel and volunteers will be deployed across the city ahead of the celebrations, which will take place on Thursday and Friday.
Jerusalem Day, celebrated on 28th day of the Hebrew month of Iyar, commemorates the reunification of the city during the 1967 Six-Day War, an event of profound historical and religious significance for the Jewish people, bringing all of Jerusalem under Jewish rule for the first time in nearly 2,000 years.
“Our central mission is to secure the tens of thousands of participants, visitors, and worshipers expected to attend, while maintaining public order and preventing friction and violence,” police said.
Police said the parade would proceed along its annual route, departing from Sacher Park and passing through downtown Jerusalem toward the Western Wall, via the Old City.
A series of road closures will begin from 3 p.m. local time on Thursday, including major arteries in central and eastern Jerusalem such as King George Street, Agron Street, King David Street and Sultan Suleiman Street. Roads are expected to reopen gradually as the march advances.
Officers will escort participants and manage traffic to allow residents and visitors “regardless of religion or nationality” to safely move throughout the city, it said.
Police warned they would act with zero tolerance toward violence or disorder, “using both advanced technological capabilities and overt and covert units.”
The statement also called on participants to avoid “physical or verbal” violence in order to preserve the celebratory atmosphere.
Earlier this week, senior Religious Zionist rabbis joined Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion’s call for participants in the march to “to stand firm and guard against being drawn into acts of taunting and provocation that seek to cast a shadow over the sanctity of the day.”
“We remind everyone that true strength is measured by our ability to preserve the dignity of the occasion and to add to the holiness of the city, through confident conduct free of even the slightest blemish, as people devoted to Torah who sanctify God’s name through their behavior,” the missive read.
The statement was signed by rabbis Yaakov Ariel, Zalman Baruch Melamed, Ya’akov Filber, Eitan Eisman, Yaakov Shapira, David Chai HaCohen, Eliezer Igra, David Turgeman, Moshe Ganz, Mordechai Greenberg, Oury Cherki, Elyakim Levanon, Chaim Gantz, Baruch Wieder, Haggai Lundin and Yitzhak Neria.
