More than 15,000 Jewish worshipers participated in Passover's Birkat Kohanim ("priestly blessings") at the Western Wall Plaza in Israel's capital city of Jerusalem on Sunday morning.
Israel Police Jerusalem District officers were stationed along with Border Police forces in the area since early on Sunday morning amid increasing security tensions in Jerusalem's holy sites.
The number of participants is expected to rise as the day continues, according to initial police assessments.
Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef and Rabbi David Lau, Israel's chief Sephardi and Ashkenazi rabbis, both attended the blessings in Jerusalem, which concluded with a special prayer for unity among the Jewish People.
Half a century of public Birkat Kohanim ceremonies
This year is the 52nd year since the first public Birkat Kohanim ceremony took place on Passover at the Western Wall, when hundreds of kohanim bless the public with the special blessing from the Torah, was reinstituted at the Western Wall by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Gafner.
It is organized by the Western Wall Heritage Foundation on Hol Hamoed (the intermediate days of the holiday) of Passover and Sukkot. Thousands stream to the Western Wall Plaza to take part in this unique experience.
Zvika Klein contributed to this report.