Israeli opposition leader slams planned far-right march in East Jerusalem's Old City

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) – Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid on Thursday slammed a planned provocative march by Israeli far-right extremist groups into occupied East Jerusalem's Old City area.

“The march in Jerusalem this evening is a blatant Kahanist attempt (a reference to Jewish extremist Meir Kahane) to set ablaze additional fronts and cause more death and destruction,” says Lapid in a statement on X.

He added that when he was prime minister, he approved marches in Jerusalem "but not violent provocations."

On Tuesday, the Haaretz daily said the Israeli police in Jerusalem approved the Jewish march which is planned to go through the Old City's Muslim Quarter and to demand an end to the Islamic status of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Various far-right Jewish groups announced in a joint statement early this week that they would hold the provocative march on Thursday evening, which coincides with the first day of Hanukkah, a Jewish festival that lasts eight days.

The statement also said the march would be organized to end the administration of the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf Department in al-Aqsa Mosque, and "reestablishing full Jewish sovereignty" in Jerusalem and over Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The department is a Jordanian-run body that is responsible for the administration of the Muslim holy site in occupied East Jerusalem, as stipulated in the Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty signed on Oct. 26, 1994.

Extremist Jewish groups, however, have been raiding Al-Aqsa Mosque accompanied by the police since 2003.

These radical groups, which call the area the Temple Mount, encourage Israelis to raid Al-Aqsa to perform religious rituals, accompanied by calls to build a Jewish temple there.

The Waqf has warned that raids by fanatical Jews have increased in recent years.

Israeli forces have imposed restrictions on Muslims entering Al-Aqsa Mosque since Oct. 7, when they launched attacks against the Gaza Strip.