Israeli police were on high alert Friday to avert possible clashes as Jews and Muslims prepare to observe their faith’s major holidays of Yom Kippur and Eid al-Adha, which overlap this year for the first time in more than three decades.

Reinforced police contingents had been deployed across Israel as a precaution against sectarian violence, said police spokeswoman Luba Samri.

Concerns were particularly high in the four Israeli cities with significant Muslim minorities: Jerusalem, the Tel Aviv twin city of Yafo, and also in Haifa and Acre.

In a related development, the military said it had closed off the Palestinian controlled areas in the “West Bank”  and Gaza as a general security measure, a common practice during major Jewish holidays.

(AP)