The Jerusalem police on Sunday set up roadblocks in several Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem to prevent vehicular traffic on Yom Kippur.

Police said the roadblocks were intended to prevent cars driving through Jewish neighborhoods, to avoid triggering violent confrontations or stone throwing.

Residents of the Arab neighborhoods said yesterday that the roadblocks hampered mobility from one Arab neighborhood to another and forced them to take lengthy detours.

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Police have taken this measure of closing roads in the capital for several years, and published announcements and maps in advance in the Arab press.

City council member Saar Netanel on Monday said that the police action scandalously restricted the mobility of the Arab public.

"The damage done to the residents of East Jerusalem is great," Netanel said. "During Yom Kippur they had difficulty getting to work, to mosques and returning home."

"There is no rational reason to compel East Jerusalem residents to mark Yom Kippur," He added. "In order to preserve the sanctity of the day, there is no need and reason to stop traffic in East Jerusalem."

Netanel further said that "To prevent the entry of Arabs' vehicles into Jewish neighborhoods, the police could have set up the barriers at the entrance to the Jewish neighborhoods, or made do with closing Highway 1, on the line between the Arab and Jewish neighborhoods in the area."