Despite what all the gullible, antisemitic commentators on X who don’t do their research are currently claiming, the only reason the Israeli government closed the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for Palm Sunday is because repeated Iranian missile attacks on the area make a mass casualty event dangerously likely. Jewish and Muslim sites are also closed.
All that the outrage about the temporary closure of the church is proving is that Western journalists, politicians, and influencers are horrible at doing their own research and are looking for any excuse to complain about the only Christian country in the Middle East, where Christians can practice their religion freely. When bishops shut down churches for a virus with a 99% survival rate, that was condemnable. At that time, 2020, Jerusalem religious authorities voluntarily agreed to close the church during Holy Week. But now when the Israeli government closes down a church that has been a repeated target of a terrorist regime that is looking to commit a mass casualty event on Christians, such a decision is entirely reasonable, and yet the same religious authorities who were on board with Covid lockdowns are now outraged. In 2020, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa claimed, “The closure of the Holy Sepulchre to pilgrims is a must.” What changed?
When Iranian missile struck near to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, @sanchezcastejon had nothing to say.
— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) March 29, 2026
Sánchez — who won’t even wish Spanish citizens with a “Merry Christmas” — never misses an opportunity to incite against Israel.
Israel is committed to freedom… https://t.co/z6MLo0DKp9 pic.twitter.com/qTwSTkQUf6
If all the outraged antisemites now griping about the church closure followed Israeli government accounts as I do, they would have seen numerous warnings that the Holy Sepulcher might be closed during Holy Week if missile attacks continued to make the area too dangerous. The Western Wall of the last Temple and the Al Aqsa mosque compound have also been closed amid Iranian missile barrages on Old City Jerusalem, so this is not in any way a decision targeted specifically at Christians. The Israeli government is simply trying to prevent the Iranian regime from achieving its goal of killing hundreds of people and destroying sacred religious sites at the same time.
🚨 Additional footage shows the moment a fragment from an Iranian ballistic missile crashed into Jerusalem's Old City. https://t.co/dSlQOSgbgo pic.twitter.com/RlMPOKXxPX
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) March 20, 2026
Related: Macron, Sanchez Slam Holy Sepulcher Closure, Ignore Iranian Missiles That Necessitated It
Jews will also not be able to pray at the Western Wall for Passover this year, because that sacred Jewish site, like the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, was nearly destroyed by Iranian missiles. Again, this is a decision of the Israeli government purely based on trying to save lives. What is so frustrating about all of this is that the Iranian regime is currently winning the propaganda war. They deliberately targeted the holiest sites of Christianity and Judaism, and in response the West blames Israel.
Do you know what else Western Christians are not talking about right now? The attacks on Syrian Christians this week. Interestingly, the only government that is trying to raise awareness about those attacks is the Israeli government. The American government, which legitimized the terrorist running Syria, certainly isn’t highlighting those Christians’ suffering.
The state of Israel shared the truth for anyone willing to hear it:
All safety and precautionary instructions in the Old City are a direct result of Iranian missile fire. As is known, the Iranian regime has fired on the Old City on multiple occasions, striking sites in the vicinity of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Western Wall.
In light of this, and in order to protect the lives of worshippers of all faiths, precautionary instructions have been issued for all holy sites of all religions, and mass gatherings are not possible.
The concern over a mass-casualty event in the Old City is particularly acute given the area’s density and the difficulty of deploying first responders in such an incident.
The police will meet with Cardinal Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and work to explore solutions that allow for as normal a routine as possible while ensuring public safety.
The West should be rallying to destroy the Iranian regime, not smearing Israel.
