
Ahead of President Joe Biden's arrival in Israel, and in response to reports that the State of Israel will allow the presidential delegation to visit east Jerusalem without official coordination and escort by the Israeli government, a group of Zionist organizations, including Regavim, The Sovereignty Movement, Im Tirtzu, The Bithonistim, Ad Kan and the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) submitted a permit request to the Israel Police for a protest vigil along the route of Biden’s visit, “to make a clear Zionist statement regarding Israeli sovereignty in its unified capital, and to sound the alarm against the government’s failure to express the basic Zionist principle of Jerusalem as the undivided, eternal capital of the sovereign State of Israel. “
The Israel Police denied the permit request, claiming that all roads along the route to the proposed demonstration site would be closed during the presidential visit. In the Israel Police Regional Headquarters hearing of the request this morning, two alternatives were proposed: They would allow the demonstration to go ahead at the location in question only after President Biden concludes his visit, or would allow the organizations to seek a permit for an alternate location off the route of the visit.
The nationalist organizations expressed anger and frustration, arguing that the alternatives will not allow them to express a legitimate Zionist position in an appropriate manner. The only alternatives they agreed to consider were those that allow them to express their position in eastern Jerusalem during Biden’s visit, adding that if no satisfactory solution is found they will petition the court against the Police Department’s decision.
Meir Deutsch, Director General of Regavim: “This is nothing short of a complete breakdown of the system. The Israeli government intends to fold. By allowing a first-of-its-kind visit by a sitting US president to eastern Jerusalem, this government is re-dividing our capital – in violation of US law and Israeli law. This is an outrageous capitulation and we demand the right to express our objection by standing proud and tall, in great numbers, to make the Zionist presence in Israel’s capital seen and heard far and wide. If the Israel Police denies us this right, we will turn to the High Court of Justice.”