In light of the security tensions and the fact that Seder is excellent this year on the second Friday of Ramadan, in recent weeks the police have instructed hotels around the country to increase security around them for fear that terrorist organizations are plotting to carry out a Seder attack in 2002.
Also, peak alertness in the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount with thousands of police officers.
Security will be increased in hotels on Passover
"Such a scenario has been taken into account, but there is no specific information or specific intelligence," Lt. Col. Shlomi Toledano, head of the police operations department, said yesterday. "In the end, we are all burned by the attack that took place at the Park Hotel."
In addition to the hotels, the police instructed the owners of the entertainment sites and local authorities to increase civil security and increase vigilance in crowded places during the weekdays of the festival.
"I call on citizens to go out and spend time," added Lt. Col. Toledano.
I hope that the holiday will pass quietly, when the public enjoys it - the police are alert. "
Police dogs on a tour of the beach in Tel Aviv. Attendance at entertainment centers will be increased, Photo: Yehoshua Yosef
This coming Friday, the second in a row in the month of Ramadan, will take place this year on Seder night, a fact that raises the level of tension, especially in Jerusalem and the cities involved.
In view of this, and in parallel with the high staging around the Temple Mount in the capital, the police will increase its presence around synagogues across the country.
The police have noticed a certain calm in the last two days in the Nablus Gate area, and attribute this to targeted arrests of instigators and agitators.
"Most Muslims want the holiday to go quietly," Lt. Col. Toledano said yesterday.
Standby in the Old City
On Saturday, in light of the expected weather, the high staging will be in parks and beaches and it will continue throughout the week.
Next week, the "Priests' Blessing" will be held in Jerusalem.
Thousands are expected to arrive and the police are preparing for that as well.
Next Friday, Christian processions are expected in the Old City, with the climax expected on the "Sabbath of Light" at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
The police districts will be reinforced by staff officers, and trainees from the College of Police and the Training School.
The order of police forces will continue to be strengthened by the 1,300 soldiers who were loaned to the police following the sensitive security situation.
The guideline for police officers is to make an effort to respond quickly and resolutely to any incident, if it occurs.
For this purpose, the two-wheeled vehicles will be put on standby by the police.
Along the fence with the Palestinian Authority, an operation to locate Shabachs continues. The police, as in the IDF, report a significant decrease in the passage of Shavuot.
Temple Mount last Friday, Photo: Reuters
Thousands of policemen in the capital: vigilance on the Temple Mount towards Friday
The Jerusalem police are on high alert and on high alert, with about 3,000 policemen and border fighters guarding the city in general and the Old City in particular, against the background of intelligence warnings about terrorists' intention to carry out attacks in the city.
The peak of vigilance will come this coming weekend, when at the same time as Ramadan and Friday prayers, Seder night will be celebrated, but also the Shabbat HaOr ceremony - the most important and sacred ceremony for the Eastern churches.
The police are preparing for the presence of tens of thousands of worshipers and probably even hundreds of thousands.
Activists of the "Returning to the Mountain" movement published a leaflet promising a payment of several hundred shekels to those who were arrested in an attempt to smuggle a Passover sacrifice to the Temple Mount, and even promised a payment of 10,000 shekels to those who managed to make a sacrifice.
Raphael Morris, the movement's chairman, has received an administrative restraining order from the Temple Mount and the Old City area. This will probably not be the only order, and in the coming days additional administrative restraining orders may be issued.
Meanwhile, Hamas is threatening to respond if the Temple Mount operatives "occupy," they say, al-Aqsa on Friday, or if operations in Jenin continue.
A police source, referring to the Temple Mount activists' attempts, stated: "We will not allow any factor to carry out these acts and we will use the tools at our disposal."
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