Nearly 150,000 people participate in final slihot prayers ahead of Yom Kippur at Kotel

Approximately 150,000 people participated in the final slihot prayer service at the Western Wall ahead of Yom Kippur on Saturday night, marking the conclusion of 2026's traditional gatherings.

The gathering began in the early evening hours and reached its peak during the central ceremony at the Kotel, with participants standing in the Western Wall Plaza and spread across nearby balconies and throughout the Old City's alleyways.

Due to the large number of participants, the gathering was also broadcast on giant screens at the outskirts of the plaza, on the walls of the Jaffa Gate at the entrance to the Old City, and at IDF Square (Kikar Tzahal).

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel David Yosef, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Kalman Meir Bar, Rabbi of the Western Wall and the Holy Sites Shmuel Rabinowitz, and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion took part in the ceremony.

During the event, Netanyahu offered a prayer for peace and another for the safety of the IDF and Israel's security forces. Israel's chief rabbis similarly prayed for the peace and unity of the Jewish people.

Western Wall: Jewish people's beating heart

“This month has once again proven that the Western Wall is the beating heart of the Jewish people," Rabinowitz said in his address during the ceremony. "From every corner of the country and from all parts of the people, multitudes came here: members of every community, opinion, and outlook, those who wear a kippah and those who do not, and stood together as one person with one heart."

"Together we offered prayers for the success of IDF soldiers, for the recovery of the wounded, for the consolation of the families, and for the peace and unity of the people of Israel."

"From the holiness and spiritual elevation of the Selichot gatherings, we enter the new year with great hope: a year of healing and consolation, of victory and blessing, and above all a year in which we remember that we are all one people, sharing one destiny and one prayer," he concluded.

Former hostages attend slihot ceremony

Also in attendance were former hostage Eliya Cohen and his wife, Nova survivor Ziv Abud, as well as former hostages Rom Braslavski, Elkana Bohbot, and Ohad Ben Ami.

"Father in Heaven, I have come all the way to the Western Wall in our beautiful homeland to tell You I’m sorry," Braslavski wrote in a late Saturday post to X/Twitter. "I’m sorry that I didn’t do more at Nova. I’m sorry for all the times in captivity when I broke down, when I doubted, when I lost faith."

"I always knew in captivity that You would save me. I always knew that You would not let me remain in Gaza. I felt You with me in Gaza every single day, every single hour."

Braslavski went on, noting that every time Hamas attempted to convert him to Islam, he "did not give in to their pressure. Even in captivity, I always knew that a father would never abandon his children."

"A year ago, on the most recent Yom Kippur, I was a prisoner of Zion in Deir al-Balah. And today I am free at the Western Wall," he said. "On my way to the Wall, I passed by and saw the Al-Aqsa Mosque. With God’s help, Father in Heaven, You will return that to us as well."

In its own statement, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation added that nearly two million people visited the Kotel throughout the month, including former hostages, bereaved families, IDF soldiers, and members of Israel's security forces.

The foundation also completed its preperations for the Yom Kippur prayers, which will take place at the Western Wall Plaza throughout the fast and end with the Ne’ilah prayer and the blowing of the shofar on Monday night.