Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday said Jerusalem must remain a united city but so must the nation.
"Our commitment is to a unified Jerusalem for all times and a united nation, for all times," Bennett said in a memorial service to the victims of the exodus of Ethiopian Jewish out of Africa, and their immigration to Israel.
Israeli security sources were on high alert during Jerusalem Day events including the controversial Flag March scheduled to take place later in the day, which is expected to pass through the Muslim quarter of the Old City.
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Religious youth walk with an Israeli flag through the old city of Jerusalem on Sunday ahead of the Flag March
(Photo: Reuters)
The route was approved by the police and the government after security assessments, despite appeals from the United States and European leaders to change its rout in order to avoid friction.
Israeli leaders said the same route that had been used for the past 30 years will remain unchanged. Officials warned that if marchers are made to avoid parts of the Old City of Jerusalem, it would be perceived as capitulation in the face of warnings from the Hamas terror group, to bring about a further escalation and possible rocket fire from Gaza.
Relatively few clashes were reported since Sunday morning between Palestinians who barricaded themselves inside a mosque on Temple Mount and police forces who then locked the rioters inside the mosque while Jewish visitors to the site were allowed to enter in small groups and for a limited time.
Some 2,000 Jews visited the compound during the morning hours, while many more, waited outside.
Among the Jewish groups, police removed from the holy site some who demonstratively prayed out loud, and bowed in worship, in violation of the status quo on Temple Mount which allows Muslim prayer at the mosques compound and Jewish prayer at the Western Wall.
Police commissioner Kobi Shabtai said his force will thwart any attempts to provoke violence from Palestinians and Jews.
"We are prepared for any development and are in full control as our troops are deployed in all sectors," he said.
Extreme right legislator Itamar Ben Gvir criticized the police for what he called their soft hand against Muslim rioters during his short visit to the holy site.
Bennett also responded to comments made by a reputable ultra-Orthodox Rabbi who in a televised Torah lesson on Saturday, said senior government ministers were worse than the Nazis.
Rabbi Meir Mazuz, from the Shas party, said he hoped Bennett, Foreign Minister Lapid and Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman, "and their friends and the friends' friends, depart this world soon," and called them traitors.
Even in the heat of argument," Bennett said," we must not equate our brothers to our worst enemies," he said.