Israel's Bennett praises marchers despite violence and racism

Tens of thousands of Israelis parade through Palestinian neighbourhood, and some chant 'death to Arabs'

Israeli flags are carried during the right-wing 'flag march' next to the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City. EPA

A drone carrying a Palestinian flag flies over the walls of Jerusalem's Old City during the flag march. EPA

Marchers carry Israeli flags. EPA

Palestinians throw stones at Israeli forces during protests over Jerusalem's annual flag march, in the West Bank city of Hebron. EPA

A Palestinian waves his national flag outside Jerusalem's Old City as Israelis mark Jerusalem Day, which celebrates the capture of the Old City during the 1967 war. AP

Israeli forces arrest a Palestinian protester in Jerusalem during the flag march. EPA

Medics carry an injured person to an ambulance amid confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli forces. Reuters

Israeli border police detain a Palestinian man during the confrontations in Jerusalem's Old City. Reuters

Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital but Palestinians, who seek East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state, consider the annual flag march provocative. Getty

A Palestinian protester flashes the victory sign at Israelis lifting national flags at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem. AFP

A tense Jerusalem was braced for Israel's flag march as Palestinian groups threatened retaliation over the annual rally. AFP

A Jewish youth uses pepper spray on Palestinians as violence flares in Jerusalem. Getty

Palestinian and Jewish youths fight in Jerusalem's Old City. AP

Israelis carry national flags in the Old City. Reuters

Large numbers of Israeli police were on hand in the Old city of Jerusalem, as the threat of violence lingered. EPA

Palestinian protesters carry a woman hit by tear gas as chaos broke out. AFP

A Palestinian protester remains defiant. AFP

Palestinian and Jewish youths fight at Damascus Gate. AP

Israelis wave flags and chant outside Damascus Gate. Reuters

Armed border policeman look to quell the violence. Reuters

A tug of war ensues over a Palestinian flag. Reuters

Last year, the flag parade led to an 11-day war between Israel and Gaza militants. AFP

Israel flags are paraded through Jerusalem's Old City. Reuters

Israeli police remove Palestinians from the stairs near the Damascus Gate leading to Jerusalem's Old City. Reuters

At Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinians wave flags during a protest over the tension in Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque complex. Reuters

Members of Israeli security forces clear people from Damascus Gate as Israelis mark Jerusalem Day. AFP

Members of Israeli youth movements dance and wave flags. AP

An Israeli national flag at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. AFP

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has defended an annual march to mark Israel's 1967 military capture of East Jerusalem — which was again marked by violence and anti-Palestinian racism.

Thousands of police forcibly cleared out Palestinians on Sunday to allow tens of thousands of Israelis to parade through a Palestinian neighbourhood, with some chanting “death to Arabs”.

Mr Bennett on Monday praised marchers, saying “except for an extremist group, whom we will deal with to the fullest extent of the law, those who celebrated yesterday did so in a very special, heart-lifting way”.

Last year, Israel changed the route at the last minute during a time of soaring tensions over violence at the holy site and attempts by settlers to remove dozens of Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem.

Hamas fired rockets and the 11-day Gaza war ensued.

Israel avoided that scenario this year, with the parade taking its traditional route through the heart of the Muslim Quarter in the Old City.

But the march saw Israeli nationalists attacking Palestinians and journalists. Fights broke out along the route, as police mainly intervened to protect Jews and forcibly disperse Palestinians.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said 62 Palestinians were wounded, including 23 who were taken to hospital. Israeli police said they arrested more than 60 suspects and five officers were wounded. The vast majority of those arrested appear to have been Palestinians, although police refused to provide a breakdown.

Mr Bennett praised the police’s handling of the event and said Israel was obliged to hold the march in the face of threats by Hamas.

“If we hadn’t done it along the regular route, we would – in effect – never go back to it,” he said. “This could have been a retreat on sovereignty.”

Lapid says Israeli-Saudi ties can happen

Meanwhile, Israel Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said on Monday that reaching a deal to normalise ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia will be "a long and cautious process", but Israel believes it can happen.

Israel said it hopes to build on its 2020 US-brokered accords with four Middle Eastern nations and establish diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest sites, has conditioned any eventual normalisation with Israel on addressing the Palestinians' quest for statehood on territory captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. It has stated that it remains committed to the Arab peace initiative on a two-state solution with East Jerusalem as the capital of an independent Palestine.

Mr Lapid told Israel's Army Radio: "We will not wake up one morning to a surprise, rather it will be a long and cautious process on both sides. There are security interests for both countries.