The tense political situation and the continuing war of attrition on the Syrian front had no discernable effect on Passover holiday celebrations in most of Israel today. An estimated 40,000 tourists arrived in the country for the holidays. Most hotels were packed for the first time since the Yom Kippur War and Israelis by the thousands took off for the mountains and seashore although the weather was cloudy and chilly for this time of the year. Extra police were assigned to the main highways but the expected traffic jams did not develop, due mainly to the high price of gasoline.
The security situation was felt in the north where all visitors were barred from the Golan Heights except for the relatives of settlers who needed special passes to get by the military checkpoints. Hotels in Safad, a mountain resort town in Upper Galilee, were less than full but those in Tiberias had their full quota of guests who could look across the Sea of Galilee to Mt. Hermon and see the Golan Heights. But there were fewer campers than in past years along the shores of the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret).
Thousands of Israelis and tourists visited East Jerusalem yesterday to watch Palm Sunday celebrations. Thousands of Christian Arabs and pilgrims from abroad retraced Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem five days before his crucifixion. They carried palm fronds and chanted hymns as the procession wound its way over a route extending from the east slope of the Mt. of Olives, through the Garden of Gethsemane, to St. Stephens Gate. Church dignitaries, priests, nuns and school children took part in the march which was led by Christian Arab girl and boy scouts. Hundreds of Greek and Cypriot pilgrims arrived in the Old City to attend Greek Orthodox Church Easter rites which, according to their calendar, will begin next Sunday.
More than 80 Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union landed at Ben Gurion Airport Friday to spend their first Passover in Israel. They were given special food parcels for the holiday. Most of them participated in public seders. Yesterday, Labor Minister Yitzhak Rabin and his predecessor, Joseph Almogi cut a ribbon opening a new IL 35 million express highway that shortens the trip between Tel Aviv and Ashdod by 25 kilometers.
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