Israeli government to boost funding for anti-Arab Jerusalem Day marches

Israeli right-wing activists harass a Palestinian journalist during a Jerusalem Day Flag March in 2025

Bar Peleg reports in Haaretz on 16 April 16 2026:

The Israeli government is funding hundreds of thousands of dollars into dozens of ultra-nationalist Flag Day parades across the country on Jerusalem Day, events that pass through Muslim neighborhoods and carry a legacy of violent clashes.

In 2021, Jerusalem Day was a catalyst for the 11-day war between Israel and Gaza militants.

Violent marches are expected in dozens of cities nationwide – including mixed Jewish-Arab communities, under the title “Jerusalem Lion’s Roar – Dancing with Jerusalem.”

Entry to Arab neighborhoods is often accompanied by hate songs, chants such as “Death to Arabs” and “Your village will burn,” property vandalism and physical attacks against Arab residents and journalists.

Last year, far-right Israeli group Im Tirzu carried a banner reading “No victory without a Nakba,” alongside another that declared, “1967 – Jerusalem in our hands, 2025 – Gaza in our hands,” calling for the conquest of the Gaza Strip.

This year, the march is expanding across the country to “strengthen a sense of belonging and identification with Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, even for those who do not reside near it,” according to project documents.

Marches are expected in Lod, Ramle, Yavneh, Ashdod, Haifa, Be’er Sheva, Herzliya, Ra’anana and Petah Tikva – some have had marches in the past, but previous funding did not come from the state.

About half of the project’s 1.2 million-shekel ($400 000) budget will be funded by the Prime Minister’s Office Jewish Identity Authority, according to the project documents. The rest of the money will be funded by The Kehillot Foundation, also known as the Foundation for the Renewal of Communities in Israel.

The Kehillot Foundation is the umbrella organization for Garin Torani, groups of young religious families who move into secular or mixed Arab-Jewish neighborhoods with the purpose of Judaizing the city through religious, social and educational activities, backed by government resources.

The “Flag Dance” marks Jerusalem’s “reunification” after the 1967 Six-Day War, and is expected to be attended by right-wing and far-right ministers, Knesset members, and thousands of youth from high schools, yeshivot, and pre-military preparatory programs.

According to the project documents, the goal is to hold “flag dances” and processions in dozens of locations across the country on Jerusalem Day that “integrate traditional values-based content.” The documents also state that among the activities will be musical performances “with songs related to Jerusalem and Israeli identity.”

The Garin Torani groups will produce the marches, while the Authority will handle publicity, public relations materials, and content for the marches.

A website displaying the participating cities, schedules and locations of the marches, as well the organizations’ historical background will go live ahead of Jerusalem Day.

Flag marches outside of Jerusalem have expanded into mixed cities in recent years, including Lod, where in 2021, Jerusalem Day clashes escalated into over a week of violence – two people were killed and dozens of homes, synagogues, Muslim worship sites and cars were ransacked and firebombed.

In 2023, the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality published an invitation on its website for a Flag Day march by the Jaffa Garin Torani group. Residents then appealed to the Municipality, demanding that it not allow the march to take place. The publication was removed, but the march took place anyway.

This article is reproduced in its entirety