Thousands of people marched in Washington in support of Israel: police took unprecedented security measures

On November 14, a huge crowd denouncing anti-Semitism and demanding the release of Israeli hostages by Hamas filled the National Mall and continued to march through the city during the March for Israel in Washington, D.C., reports CNN.

Photo: IStock

Israeli President Isaac Herzog addressed the audience live. Despite being thousands of miles apart, Herzog said they are united to "march for the babies, the boys and girls, the women and men who are being viciously held hostage by Hamas, to march for the right of every Jew to live proudly and safely in America, in Israel and around the world."

The event is believed to be the largest pro-Israel gathering in the US since Hamas militants carried out a massacre in Israel on October 7, killing children and kidnapping soldiers and civilians alike.

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Sarah Blau, a student at the University of Maryland, said she attended high school with Israeli soldier Omer Neutra, who was kidnapped by Hamas.

“We were very good friends,” said Blau, who attended the march. - Everyone loves him. He's funny. He is kind and charismatic. “He’s a natural leader and that has a huge impact on everyone.”

Blau said she wanted to join the march “to show my support for Israel.”

“I’m proud to be a Zionist, proud to be Jewish, and I wanted to be here to support my community,” she said.

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The Department of Homeland Security classified the march as a "Level 1" security event - the highest possible level - based on national importance, potential threats and resources needed to ensure public safety, law enforcement sources said.

Enhanced measures

Such tight security is unprecedented for a march or protest in Washington, said Donell Harvin, the former head of Homeland Security and Intelligence for the District of Columbia.

“There has never been a First Amendment event in the District of Columbia that was classified as a Tier 1 event,” Harvin said. “This category is reserved for high-profile events like the Super Bowl and World Series.”

The Tier 1 category allows the federal government to fill potential gaps in local security, including explosives detection, cyber risk assessments, and facility inspections. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the National Guard will be on site to assist local police.

Streets around the National Mall are blocked by military vehicles, police cars and city dump trucks. The U.S. Capitol Intelligence Service has assessed that no credible threats or counter-demonstrations have been identified so far during the march.

However, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman urged the public to remain vigilant.

“The United States remains in a heightened threat environment, and recent events confirm this,” the spokesman said.

“As the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, we are seeing an increase in reports of threats against Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities and institutions,” a DHS spokesperson said. — The most likely threat is posed by lone criminals driven by various ideologies of violence. "We urge the public to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity to local law enforcement immediately."

The March for Israel began at 13:00 pm ET and will end at 15:00 pm.

Israeli military response

On October 7, Hamas launched a coordinated attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing approximately 1200 people, including children, and abducting approximately 200 others. The massacre in Israel coincided with rising reports of anti-Semitism in the United States and other countries.

Israel responded with airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, targeting Hamas, which often uses civilians as human shields. The bombing also killed Palestinian civilians.

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More than 11 people have been killed, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah, according to sources in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. A UNICEF spokesman says the organization's figures match those of the Hamas-controlled health ministry.

The November 14 march came amid other protests condemning Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, which have destroyed homes and schools and cut off access to life-saving medical care. Some Jewish activists are among those calling for a ceasefire to prevent more civilian casualties.

Just a few blocks from the march site, crowds of demonstrators recently gathered in Washington's Freedom Square to support Palestinian civilians and demand a ceasefire. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators have been arrested at similar events near the Capitol.

While many have called for a humanitarian pause in the fighting so that Palestinian civilians can be moved to safety, Israel has firmly rejected the idea while Hamas continues to hold hostages. But Israel agreed to a four-hour daily pause in military operations in the Gaza Strip to allow for evacuation.

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• October 7 Hamas attacked Israel: Netanyahu said "this is war."
• 8 October The Israeli government officially declared war and greenlighted "significant military steps" in response to the surprise attack by Hamas militants.
• October 11, first plane with American weapons arrived in southern Israel, and the US government invited American citizens wishing to leave Israel evacuation flights. On October 14 it became known: Egypt, Israel and the United States agreed that foreigners living in the Gaza Strip, will be able to travel through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt.
• October 16 President US Joe Biden said Israeli occupation Gaza Strip would be a big mistake.
• Hossein Amir-Abdallahian, Iranian Foreign Minister, October 18 posted a tweet where he wrote that Israel’s time is “running out”. This happened after a rocket attack on a hospital in Gaza took place on October 17.
• 18 October US President Joe Biden visited Israelto express strong support for a country that has declared war on the Palestinian group Hamas due to its brutal terror.
• 19 October US President Joe Biden addressed the Americans from the Oval Office with a speech about the wars between Israel and Hamas, as well as Russia and Ukraine.
• October 24 Hamas released two hostages: about what one of them said.
• On October 24, at a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the situation in the Middle East is becoming more dire by the hour and called on all parties to respect and protect civilians. Israel reacted angrily to comments by the UN Secretary General.
• Israeli troops and tanks conducted a raid in the Gaza Strip on the night of October 26. The military said it carried out several strikes on terrorist targets to “prepare the battlefield” ahead of a major ground operation.
• 27 October two Egyptian cities on the Red Sea were bombed – six people were injured. The aggressor has again demonstrated the danger of the conflict between Israel and Gaza spreading throughout the region. In the same day representatives of Iran and Hamas met in Moscow to talk about Israel.
• On November 1, hundreds of foreign passport holders and wounded people trapped in the Gaza Strip began to leave the war-torn territory. For them, for the first time since the Hamas attacks on Israel, Rafah, the border crossing with Egypt, opened. Israel has made another concession - from November 9 he agreed to suspend operations in the northern Gaza Strip for four hours a day.
• On November 13, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) displayed weapons and explosives in one of the rooms located under Al-Rantisi Children's Hospital. According to the Israeli military, parts of the basement were Hamas' "command and control center" and may have been used to hold hostages.

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