How Jerusalem Day Went From Thanksgiving to Sovereignty Display

Jerusalem Day was established in 1968 by the Chief Rabbinate as a religious holiday of thanksgiving — synagogue prayers and a ceremony at the Western Wall. Today it's best known for the flag march: 70,000 mostly religious Zionist participants routing through the Muslim Quarter via Damascus Gate. This episode traces the transformation: from the 1980 Basic Law that constitutionalized unification, through Oslo-era counter-mobilization that supercharged the march, to the current tension between celebrating access to holy sites and asserting sovereignty over Palestinian neighborhoods. We examine the original intent versus what the day has become — and whether a version exists that honors Jewish connection to Jerusalem without triumphalism.