Israel revealed its true colors after ugly Palm Sunday screw-up

Protesters gather outside the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem on March 31, 2026, during a demonstration against the passing of a law allowing for the death penalty against Palestinians. AFP via Getty Images

Holy Week in the Holy Land began with online hysteria.

After Catholic Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and three prelates were wrongly denied access to Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre at a police barrier, internet outrage spiraled into an international incident.

But what could have been a diplomatic catastrophe showed the opposite: Israel apologized, kept its word — and demonstrated what makes it America’s model ally.

Israeli police set events in motion by erecting a wooden barrier outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the faith’s most revered site, as a safety measure.

On Palm Sunday, one of Christianity’s holiest days, it inadvertently became a symbol of ill intent.

Official restrictions amid the war with Iran, whose regime has launched more than 400 missiles at the Jewish state in the last month, limit the size of all religious gatherings in Jerusalem’s Old City to fewer than 50 people.

It’s a prudent, life-saving precaution: Just two weeks ago, debris from an intercepted Iranian missile landed in the basilica’s close vicinity.

The tomb of Christ and the ancient structure atop it were not built to be bomb shelters.

Importantly, the cardinal and his fellow priests were not leading a public Palm Sunday procession; they only intended to celebrate a private mass, as has been done for millennia.

Yet overzealous officers from the David Precinct wrongly turned Pizzaballa away — and the social-media outrage went into overdrive.

French President Emmanuel Macron instantly condemned the “violation,” while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called it an “unjustified attack” on religious freedom itself.

Strong words from Macron, an infrequent churchgoer, and Sánchez, an avowed atheist.

While both leaders found time to condemn Israel on Palm Sunday, they were entirely silent about a real attack: the shocking slaughter of at least 12 Christians in Nigeria that same day.

On X, the performative firestorm was even more hysterical, as influencers like Jack Posobiec framed the procedural screw-up as a civilizational betrayal.

“Never forget that the Crusades were defensive and justified. Defend the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,” he posted.

Tucker Carlson joined the dogpile, using his massive platform to mainstream the “Christians banned” narrative while demanding to know why they “are being targeted” by Israel.

As the internet crusaders whipped up outrage, actual allies were making phone calls.

Ambassador Mike Huckabee’s measured initial statement rightly called out the “unfortunate overreach” at the police barrier.

The response from Israel was swift, decisive and exactly as Christians would hope — coming within hours, not days.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog called Pizzaballa directly and reaffirmed Israel’s “unwavering commitment to freedom of religion for all faiths and to upholding the status quo at the holy sites of Jerusalem.”

In the world of high-stakes diplomacy, that’s the smartest way to apologize for a minor muddle.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did one better, announcing that he “instructed the authorities to enable the Patriarch to hold services as he wishes.”

That shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.

President Donald Trump’s 2025 National Security Strategy, and the 2026 National Defense Strategy that followed, affirmed what most have known for years: Israel is America’s “model ally.”

This is not a diplomatic platitude.

It’s a recognition that Israel is the kind of friend that doesn’t ask us to fight its battles — but helps us win ours.

In the skies over Iran right now, US and Israeli pilots are operating as if they were part of the same fighting force.

Our militaries are sharing intelligence, fuel and carefully selected fire on the Islamic Republic, the world’s largest exporter of terror.

Given this level of shared “warrior ethos” and integration at the highest levels of national survival, the suggestion that a wooden police barrier in Jerusalem is some secret plot to suppress Christianity is absurd.

Worse, it’s an insult to the men and women now risking their lives for our common civilization.

By Monday, the storm had passed.

In a joint statement, Pizzaballa and his priests expressed their “sincere gratitude” to Herzog for his “valued intervention.”

Israeli police officials paid Pizzaballa a smiling visit. 

Christian prayers for peace during this Holy Week in Jerusalem will proceed, despite the death rattle of the clerical regime in Iran.

It’s time for the rest of the world to catch up.

Real life in a war zone is messy.

Mistakes are inevitable.

Israel’s willingness to own an unforced error and to fix it in under 24 hours is precisely why it deserves to be considered one of America’s best allies.

Everyone who screamed on social media about “crusades” would do better to put their phones down, offer a little grace to friends — and pray for the safe return of our soldiers and sailors in harm’s way.

Peter Doran is an adjunct senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.