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The shock of Friday’s catastrophe at Mount Meron is still raw. The graves of the victims, including the children killed in the crush, are still fresh. Yet the debate over what it all means for the country and for Haredi society has only begun.
A few overpowering facts, not least that nearly all the victims were Haredi, are driving an unusual new introspection, and leading the major media outlets of the community to turn against one of its characteristic traits: its longstanding and much-criticized “autonomy” from the Israeli state.
Haredi Israelis are simultaneously part of and apart from broader Israeli society. Making up as much as 12 percent of the Israeli population, the community is not uniform; different sects and subcultures interact in very different ways with the state and with other subgroups. While the “autonomy,” as Israelis often refer to the phenomenon, does not encompass all Haredim, it encompasses enough of the community to be so growing
Moshe Natan Neta Englander, 14, and Yehoshua Englander, 9, were from Jerusalem. (courtesy)
At least a dozen children and teens younger than 18 were among 45 people killed in a stampede at a Lag B’Omer festival in northern Israel, according to a partial list of names published Saturday as the identification of victims in Israel’s deadliest civilian disaster continued.
Four Americans, a Canadian and a man from Argentina were also among those killed. Two families each lost two children. The youngest victim, Yehoshua Englander, was nine years old. His brother, Moshe Natan Neta Englander, 14, was also killed.
The other underage victims are: brothers Moshe Mordechai Elhadad, 12, and Yosef David Elhadad, 18; Yedidia Hayut, 13; Eliyahu Cohen, 16; Moshe Levy, 14; Yosef Yehuda Levy, 17; Nahman Kirshbaum, 15; Yishai Mualem, 17; Yosef Mastorov, 18; Eliezer Yitzchak Koltai, 13.
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Ultra-Orthodox Jews light candles for the 45 victims who were killed in a stampede, at the scene of the fatal disaster, at Mt Meron. May 01, 2021. (David Cohen/Flash90)
Israel on Sunday marked a national day of mourning over the Mount Meron stampede that killed 45 people, including over a dozen children and teenagers, in the country’s deadliest-ever civilian disaster.
Flags were lowered to half-staff and ceremonies were expected at the Knesset and army bases. A cabinet meeting scheduled for Sunday was canceled. Concerts and sports events were postponed. And the Jerusalem school system announced it would dedicate its studies on Sunday to the tragedy.
Israel’s Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau March 29, 2018. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
“The site needs to be handled differently. What is happening at the moment does not respect the place or human life. The state is obligated to take responsibility for it,” he said.
The chief rabbi also suggested spreading out the Lag B’Omer festivities to avoid overcrowding in the future.
“It could be that the events need to be divided over a whole week,” Lau told the Kan public broadcaster. He suggested that some bonfires and prayers could be held before Lag B’Omer, which falls on a particular date of the Hebrew calendar, with the more boisterous revelry taking place during and after the festival.
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Rescue forces and police at the scene after a mass fatality scene during the celebrations of the Jewish holiday of Lag B Omer on Mount Meron, in northern Israel on April 30, 2021. (David Cohen/Flash90)
A forum of former Israel Police chiefs on Sunday urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a state commission of inquiry into the Mount Meron disaster last week that saw 45 people crushed to death at a religious festival.
In a letter to the prime minister, the Retired Police Commissioners and Major General’s Forum said only a thorough investigation examining the role of all bodies involved in organizing the annual Lag B’Omer event at Mount Meron can provide sufficient input to prevent another disaster in the future.