Israel closed on Wednesday evening for Yom Kippur, the Day of Jewish Atonement and the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, even as security forces remained on high alert amid a recent increase in attacks and with two runaway Palestinian security prisoners still on the run.
This Yom Kippur comes as the country is battling a new wave of coronavirus and on Wednesday saw long queues and rush to test before most test stations also closed the holy day.
All flights entering and leaving Ben Gurion Airport left at 13:35. The airport will reopen on Thursday night with arrivals from 9.30pm, while departures will resume at 11.30pm. During this period, Israeli airspace is also closed to flights. crossing.
Border crossings also close shortly after noon and will reopen Thursday at 10 p.m.
As sunset approached, all local radio and television broadcasts went silent.
Public transportation also stopped with buses and trains stopping their routes until after the fast day. Intercity buses will gradually restart from 8pm, while intercity transport will restart from 9.30pm on Thursday.
Thousands of religious Jews pray for forgiveness on the western wall of Jerusalem’s Old City on September 15, 2021, before the Jewish day of the Yom Kippur Atonement, which begins Wednesday evening. (Arie Leib Abrams / Flash90)
The roads were almost car-free in the early evening, as is national tradition, to be replaced by crowds of people on bicycles and other non-motorized vehicles.
Driving during the Jewish Atonement Day is considered taboo and many lay Israelis have turned the day into a cycling holiday, taking advantage of car-free roads.
For religious and traditional Jews, the 25-hour fasting and prayer period would begin at 6:09 p.m. in Jerusalem and 6:26 p.m. in Tel Aviv. It will end Thursday at 7:19 p.m. and 7:21 p.m., respectively.
Security and rescue services, however, remain on high alert.
A Jewish man walks on abandoned light rail tracks linking the Arab district of East Jerusalem’s Beit Hanina with West Jerusalem on September 15, 2021, before the start of Yom Kippur (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
In Jerusalem, about 2,000 police officers were deployed and neighborhoods and checkpoints were established around the old city, with thousands of faithful on the western wall. Police also monitored houses of worship across the country.
Jerusalem has seen a series of stabbing attacks in recent days, apparently in solidarity with six Palestinian security prisoners who escaped from Gilboa prison last week. Two of the six continue to flee.
Searches for the two fugitives were expected to continue on Yom Kippur, Channel 13 reports, with the focus now on the northern West Bank.
The IDF also imposed a closure in the West Bank and Gaza, a common practice during the Israeli holidays to try to prevent attacks.
An Israeli policeman walks near cement cubes placed as a roadblock by Israeli security forces on a road linking East Beit Hanina Arab Quarter with West Jerusalem on September 15, 2021, amid preparations for Yom Kippur (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
For the Magen David Adom rescue service, Yom Kippur is one of the busiest days of the year with hundreds of additional doctors, paramedics, ambulances and volunteers deployed across the country.
Most injuries in Yom Kippur come from road accidents, as tens of thousands of children and teenagers take advantage of deserted streets to ride bicycles. Other common injuries on Yom Kippur are caused by parents leaving children alone outside the synagogues and of course dehydration and fasting complications.
People are cycling along the empty road of Jerusalem on Yom Kippur, the day of the Atonement, October 9, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)
Hospitals worked only with limited emergency medical equipment.
Thousands of people were screened for the virus before the holidays, with long queues and waits of up to 90 minutes in some places.
More than 50,000 tests were conducted before the centers closed at noon, and Magen David also administered about 10,000 rapid tests.
Test centers in Arab communities, staffed with non-Jewish workers, would remain open in Yom Kippur.
The weather was cooler than usual (although still warm), with scattered rain forecast and a high of 29 ° C (84 ° F) in Tel Aviv and 26 ° C (79 ° F) in Jerusalem. .
The Times of Israel will resume updates when the fasting day in Israel ends.