Israeli PM defends march marked by violence, racism

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Monday defended the decision to hold an annual march that celebrates Israel’s takeover of east Jerusalem and was marked by violence and anti-Palestinian racism.

Authorities called up thousands of police, forcibly cleared out Palestinians and risked another war with the Islamic militant group Hamas to ensure that tens of thousands of mostly right-wing Israelis could parade through a dense Palestinian neighborhood and hundreds could visit a bitterly contested holy site.

Israel had changed the route at the last minute during last year’s march, at a time of soaring tensions over violence at the holy site and attempts by settlers to remove dozens of Palestinian families from their homes in east Jerusalem.

Hamas still fired rockets, and an 11-day Gaza war ensued.

Israel avoided that scenario this year and allowed the parade to take its traditional route through the heart of the Muslim Quarter of the Old City.