Thousands of officers to secure Jerusalem for Auschwitz memorial
Dozens of world leaders and dignitaries arriving in Israel for mass commemoration.
By ANNA AHRONHEIMA general view of Jerusalem as seen from the Mount of Olives shows the Dome of the Rock, located in Jerusalem's Old City on the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, June 21, 2018(photo credit: REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD)
Thousands of police and counter-terrorism officers will be deployed throughout Israel’s capital this week as dozens of world leaders, from kings and presidents to prime ministers, visit Jerusalem to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp.Dubbed “Operation Future,” it will be led by a force of 6,300 Israel Police officers as well as officers from the border police, undercover units, special patrol units and counter-terrorism units, securing Jerusalem and the main highways into the city from Tuesday through Friday.Israel’s Shin Bet security service and IDF troops will also provide security for world leaders visiting the West Bank to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.The event is expected to cause significant traffic problems along Highway 1 from Ben-Gurion Airport toward Jerusalem, as well as within the city itself, as world leaders arrive.While police said that the main highway would not be completely shut down and that the traffic in the opposite direction would not be affected, they recommended drivers to find alternate routes into the capital when Putin and Pence arrive on Thursday morning.Though most world leaders are arriving in private planes, according to Ynet, the Airports Authority implemented special arrangements at Ben-Gurion and have diverted international departures from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3 until the weekend.The leaders, arriving between Tuesday evening and Thursday morning, will be staying in Jerusalem’s King David Hotel. As such, the road and surrounding streets will be closed from Wednesday morning until Friday.With events taking place throughout the city including at the President’s Residence and Yad Vashem, streets between the hotels and the locations will be closed to traffic at various points throughout the two days.The attendees at the memorial include Russian President Vladimir Putin, the UK’s Prince Charles, US Vice President Mike Pence, Jared Kushner, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, French President Emmanuel Macron, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Dutch King William Alexander, Belgian King Philip, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon Magnus, among many more world leaders.One leader who will be notably missing at the event is Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, who announced that he would not attend because he had not been included as a speaker.
The last event of this scale was in September 2016, when dozens of high-ranking dignitaries came to Israel for the funeral of former president Shimon Peres at Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem.
