Thousands of people crowded into Paris Square in Jerusalem, across from the Prime Minister's residence Monday night, in protest over expected concessions at the Annapolis conference this week. Participants in the demonstration, sponsored by the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea and Samaria (Yesha), included members of the governing coalition from the Kadima, Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu parties. The Paris Square protest, held under the slogan "It Will Blow Up in Our Faces," comes on the heels of a mass prayer gathering for the sake of Jerusalem's unity held at the Western Wall in the capital's Old City earlier in the day. The prayer gathering was promoted by leading rabbis of the religious Zionist community in Israel. Four young Land of Israel activists were arrested Monday night when they tried to voice their protest by blocking a road in Jerusalem. Police say one of the activists was carrying a sharp object. The four have been taken in for questioning. Yesha Council head Danny Dayan spoke with Arutz Sheva during the Paris Square protest: "Tens of thousands came. And as the danger to Jerusalem - to the Land of Israel grows, the numbers will grow larger. I very much hope that we will not have to gather larger demonstrations, that we will be able to halt this dangerous process, but we can tell Olmert and the People of Israel, 'Be sure of this: if need be, Land of Israel loyalists will volunteer for that effort. And because we have the greater determination, the greater faith, we will win.'" Coalition MKs Speak Out Knesset Member Zeev Elkin, a member of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima party, said that the true success of the protest is measured by the presence and participation of coalition members. "What will ultimately determine things is the Israeli political system," Elkin told Arutz Sheva, "that is the true test." Another Knesset member from within the coalition, David Rotem of Yisrael Beiteinu, said in an interview, "The public says - and we say - that we oppose the division of Jerusalem; we oppose concessions and gestures; we also oppose the release of terrorists. And we want the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister to wipe out terrorism." MK's Effie Eitam and Aryeh Eldad of the joint National Union-National Religious Party faction did not attend the Paris Square event. The two opposition legislators explained that they did not wish to attend in protest over the participation of MKs from Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu. "It makes no sense that, on the one hand, the Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu parties remain part of the government, and on the other hand, they will take part in a rally calling to cancel the government's evil decrees," Eitam and Eldad said in a joint statement. "What will ultimately determine things is the Israeli political system." -- Kadima MK Zeev Elkin Knesset Member Tzvi Hendel addresses the protest. In response to the absence of the two leaders from the right-wing opposition, MK Rotem said, "What can I do? Part of the work of certain Knesset Members is creating division. They are without understanding. They don't understand that we are sitting in the government in order to prevent what they are unable to prevent from the opposition." Both Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu spokesmen have said they will leave the government if Prime Minister Ehud Olmert compromises on "core issues," such as the status of Jerusalem or the final borders of an Arab state within Israel. Speaking on Voice of Israel government radio on Monday morning, Yisrael Beiteinu MK Yisrael Hasson said that the current government is not likely to last much longer if Prime Minister Olmert continues its present policies and does not provide better security for the citizenry. If the government does not change course, Hasson explained, he will recommend to party leader and Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman that Yisrael Beiteinu withdraw from the coalition. Along with Lieberman's party and Shas, other members of the coalition are the Kadima, Labor and Pensioners parties. Photos by Arutz-7 Photojournalist Josh Shamsi
