Thousands of officers to secure Jerusalem for Auschwitz memorial - The Jerusalem Post

Thousands of police officers and counter-terrorism officers will be deployed throughout Israel’s capital this week as dozens of world leaders, from kings to presidents and 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 Israel Police with 6300 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 until Friday. The 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 Route 1 from Ben Gurion Airport towards 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, the police recommended to 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, Israel Airport Authority implemented special arrangements at Ben Gurion Airport and have diverted local departures from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3 until the weekend. The leaders, arriving between Tuesday evening to Thursday morning, will be staying on Jerusalem’s King David Street. As such the road and surrounding streets will be closed from Wednesday morning until Friday. With events taking place throughout the city including 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 Zolenskyy, Dutch King William Alexander, Belgian King Philip, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon Magnus, and many more world leaders. One leader who is notably missing 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 for the funeral of former president Shimon Peres at Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem where dozens of high-ranking dignitaries came to Israel.

2020-01-21 10:26:00Z
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Thousands-of-officers-to-secure-Jerusalem-for-Auschwitz-memorial-614787