18 people arrested during march with Israeli national flag through East Jerusalem

“We need revenge,” said one of the protesters, 15-year-old Noam Goldstein, a high school student from a small Israeli settlement near the Palestinian city of Hebron in the West Bank. “They have carried out attacks against us, so we must take revenge. But that does not mean we have to kill every single one.”

But he added: “I want this whole country to be ours.”

After the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, Jerusalem was divided into two parts: Israel controlled the western parts of the city, while Jordan controlled the predominantly Palestinian East Jerusalem. During the 1967 Middle East War, Israel captured and later annexed East Jerusalem. However, most countries do not recognize the city and still consider it occupied territory.

Tensions fueled by the annual rally commemorating the takeover contributed to an 11-day conflict between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas in May 2021. Hamas fired rockets at Jerusalem shortly before the march began, setting off rocket alert sirens and sending thousands running for cover.

On Wednesday, Shilo Tzoref, a 19-year-old student at a religious school (yeshiva), tried to distance himself from some of the more violent chants. “The central idea is that Jerusalem is ours,” he said. “You shouldn’t beat every Arab you see on the street. It’s a holy day when we celebrate Jerusalem, and it’s not about picking fights with our enemies.”

Earlier on Wednesday, some Jewish Israelis had climbed to the Holy Temple, a hotly contested holy site known to Muslims as Al-Aqsa Mosque and to Jews as the Temple Mount. Under a longstanding agreement, non-Muslims are allowed to visit this sensitive holy site, but only Muslims are permitted to pray.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister and a far-right politician, also took part in the procession. Mr. Ben-Gvir, who has long advocated Jewish worship at the Holy Temple, said that Jews had prayed freely on the Temple Mount in accordance with his instructions to police, defying the status quo.

“We are here to tell them that Jerusalem is ours, that the Damascus Gate is ours and that the Temple Mount is ours,” Mr Ben-Gvir told reporters at the march.

In response, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office released a statement saying: “The status quo on the Temple Mount has not changed and will not change.”

Ephrat Livni contributed to the reporting.