For some in Israel, a wartime holiday strikes a discordant note

Israel’s celebrations this year of the joyous holiday of Purim, based on a biblical account of Jewish salvation, presented a jarring juxtaposition with the war in Gaza, where local authorities say Israel has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians as it seeks to destroy the militant group Hamas.

In Israel, the holiday is traditionally marked by drinking alcohol and donning costumes, and in secular cities like Tel Aviv, the atmosphere is usually akin to U.S.-style Halloween celebrations.

Many Israelis felt that public festivities this year were inappropriate in light of the bloody war, which began Oct. 7 with a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people.

But some of the families of hostages who were seized that day considered the holiday a moment to draw attention to the plight of loved ones still being held in Gaza. Others used the occasion to salute Israel’s war dead and those displaced by fighting with Hamas in areas near Gaza and on the northern border by clashes with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

This year, Israel’s religious right marked Purim with particular fervor, with Jerusalem holding its first Purim parade in more than four decades and Jewish settlers in the West Bank putting heavy symbolic weight on the storied destruction of enemies of the Jewish people, as recounted in the biblical Book of Esther.

For West Bank Palestinians living in the shadow of Jewish settlements, the holiday marked more of the hardship that has grown since the outbreak of the war. Under heavy security, settlers in and near the West Bank city of Hebron held triumphal marches.

Purim began Saturday night and continued into Sunday in most of the country, but Jerusalem marks the holiday a day later, beginning Sunday evening and continuing into Monday.

Orit Strook, center, Knesset member and the minister of settlements and national missions, is greeted by Israeli settlers in the West Bank town of Hebron.

A parade celebrating the holiday of Purim is the first such commemoration in Jerusalem in four decades.

Gabriella Jember, 3, dressed as an astronaut, sits on her father’s shoulders as they attend a parade in Jerusalem to mark the Jewish holiday of Purim.

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1. Paulina Hoffman, 6, and Teila Hoffman, 7, mingle with crowds on the streets at a Purim celebration in Jerusalem. 2. Leah Oritz, 8, left, and Sari Oritz, 5, pose for photographs at Purim festivities in Jerusalem. 3. On a holiday marked by costume-wearing, a petite “bride” walks past a closed store during Purim festivities in Jerusalem.

Members of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community pass through a narrow street in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim, populated mainly by religiously observant Jews.

At Purim festivities in Jerusalem, dancers from a municipal group attend the parade.

Paradegoers, some in costume, attend a celebration of the Jewish holiday of Purim in Jerusalem.

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1. Yonatan Ler holds his son Nave’s hand while his other son, Mayon, follows. The family dressed in military costumes for a Purim parade in Hebron in the West Bank. 2. With a costumed person nearby, a member of the Israeli security forces watches over a Purim celebration in Hebron.

A young girl attending Purim celebrations in a religious neighborhood in Jerusalem wears a costume meant to symbolize motherhood.

An Israeli soldier stands guard over Jewish settlers attending a parade marking the holiday of Purim in Hebron.

Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion, second from left, marches at the head of the parade, along with representatives of families of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip.