Tens of thousands of Jews gather for traditional blessing in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (AP) — Tens of thousands of people gathered at the holiest Jewish prayer site in Jerusalem on Tuesday for the traditional priestly blessing.

The “Birkat Cohanim,” or Cohen’s blessing, is a ritual dating back over 2,500 years to when King Solomon’s Temple stood on the same site. The blessing is performed by male Jews who can trace their lineage back to the priestly caste, and takes place three times a year during Judaism’s major holidays. Jews are currently observing the week-long holiday of Passover.

The prayer was led by many of the country’s top rabbis as well as Eliya Cohen, a former hostage who was released from Gaza in February, and relatives of other hostages still being held in Gaza. After the traditional blessing, the rabbis recited a prayer for the 59 hostages still held in captivity in Gaza.

Many worshippers said the prayer had special meaning this year, given the ongoing war, which has stretched on for more than 18 months. “It’s hard for us to believe that we still have hostages that are not able to come home and come and be here and join us with this,” said Shandey Fuchs, who said she tries to attend the ceremony every year. She added that she hopes the prayer brings unity and lasting peace across Israel.

The blessing is recited in Hebrew while religious men cover their heads with prayer shawls, creating a sea of white at the Western Wall Plaza. The paved prayer area is in front of the Wall, the last remnant of the second Jewish Temple's complex destroyed in the 1st century. The Western Wall Heritage Foundation, which runs the site, said more than 200,000 people have visited the site during the Passover holiday, one of three Jewish holidays where ancient Jews traditionally made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

This story was first published on Apr. 15, 2025. It was updated on Apr. 16, 2025 to correct that the plaza in front of the Western Wall is not the last remnant of the second Jewish Temple. The Wall itself is the last remnant of the ancient Temple.

An ultra-Orthodox Jew participates in a blessing during the holiday of Passover, at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Covered in prayer shawls, a Jewish man of the Cohanim Priestly caste participates in a blessing during the holiday of Passover, at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Covered in prayer shawls, Jewish men of the Cohanim Priestly caste participate in a blessing during the holiday of Passover, at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Covered in prayer shawls, Jewish men of the Cohanim Priestly caste participate in a blessing during the holiday of Passover, at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Covered in prayer shawls, Jewish men of the Cohanim Priestly caste participate in a blessing during the holiday of Passover, at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish young man prays as he participates in a blessing during the holiday of Passover, at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Covered in prayer shawls, Jewish men of the Cohanim Priestly caste participate in a blessing during the holiday of Passover, at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Covered in prayer shawls, Jewish men of the Cohanim Priestly caste participate in a blessing during the holiday of Passover, at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Covered in prayer shawls, Jewish men of the Cohanim Priestly caste participate in a blessing during the holiday of Passover, at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Covered in prayer shawls, Jewish men of the Cohanim Priestly caste participate in a blessing during the holiday of Passover, at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men participate in a blessing during the holiday of Passover, at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday fired off another warning to the government of Cuba as the close ally of Venezuela braces for potential widespread unrest after Nicolás Maduro was deposed as Venezuela's leader.

Cuba, a major beneficiary of Venezuelan oil, has now been cut off from those shipments as U.S. forces continue to seize tankers in an effort to control the production, refining and global distribution of the country's oil products.

Trump said on social media that Cuba long lived off Venezuelan oil and money and had offered security in return, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!”

“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!” Trump said in the post as he spent the weekend at his home in southern Florida. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not explain what kind of deal.

The Cuban government said 32 of its military personnel were killed during the American operation last weekend that captured Maduro. The personnel from Cuba’s two main security agencies were in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, as part of an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.

“Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” Trump said Sunday. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”

Trump also responded to another account’s social media post predicting that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba: “Sounds good to me!” Trump said.

Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat by Venezuela. Long before Maduro's capture, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Trump has said previously that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, would slide further with the ouster of Maduro.

“It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the count.”

A person watches the oil tanker Ocean Mariner, Monrovia, arrive to the bay in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

President Donald Trump attends a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)