Border Police on duty
Border Police on dutyIsrael News Photo (file)

Jerusalem police were on heightened alert Tuesday morning following a day of rioting and violence on Yom Kippur. A wave of arrests in the capital is part of the police response.

Thirteen Arabs from the predominantly Arab eastern part of Jerusalem were arrested overnight Monday, including a number of minors, in connection with violent disturbances before and during the Yom Kippur holiday. Twenty-two officers were wounded throughout the capital in violence that began on the Temple Mount on Sunday. Muslim rioting in eastern Jerusalem included the throwing of rocks and over 20 firebombs targeting police. Police and Border Guards had to be deployed in Jewish neighborhoods of the capital to ensure that the rioters did not endanger Jewish civilians.

Police say more arrests are expected in coming days.

Monday was also the anniversary of then-Defense Minister Ariel Sharon's visit in 2000 to the Temple Mount. The visit became a rallying point for the Palestinian Authority terror war which had begun with armed PA attacks on IDF soldiers several days earlier.

PA incitement quickly turned the limited armed attacks into what the PA Arabs call the Al-Aksa Intifada, and what others refer to as the second intifada, or the Oslo War. The disturbances in Jerusalem are thought to be related, in part, to the anniversary of the Sharon visit, with further violence marking the event considered a possibility.

Following a security assessment Tuesday morning, police and Border Guard commanders decided to maintain the high alert levels in place over the holiday. Uniformed and plainclothes officers will remain out in the capital in increased numbers, with checkpoints and other measures deployed as well.