Ahead of Yom Kippur, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended the season’s final Selichot penitential prayers at the Western Wall on Saturday night, where he recited a prayer for Israel Defense Forces soldiers and other security personnel. About 150,000 people participated in the gathering, according to the Western Wall Heritage Foundation.
Worshippers began arriving in the early evening, and by time of the main service, crowds filled the Western Wall plaza, nearby balconies and alleys of Jerusalem’s Old City. The service was broadcast on large screens near the Wall, on the walls by Jaffa Gate and at IDF Square for those unable to enter the plaza.
Former hostages in Gaza Eliya Cohen, Rom Braslavski, Elkana Bohbot and Ohad Ben Ami attended the service, along with Supernova music festival massacre survivor Ziv Abud. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was also present, as were Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel David Yosef, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel Kalman Meir Ber, Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday called on Israelis to remember the values of mercy and forgiveness ahead of Yom Kippur, which begins in the evening.
“May we all merit mercy, forgiveness and open hearts, and may our prayers be accepted with favor,” Herzog wrote on X, wishing the Jewish people a gmar chatimah tova (that they be “inscribed for good in the Book of Life”), an easy fast and “good news, salvation and consolation.”
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee marked Yom Kippur with a message of prayer and reflection for Jews in Israel, the United States and around the world.
“May this holy day deepen our commitment to God and one another,” Huckabee wrote on X, concluding, “G’mar chatima tova.”
