Deri fought like a lion to allow Mount Meron event to go ahead
Yosef Schwinger, head of the national holy places center, said in an interview just hours before Israel s biggest civilian disaster that Shas leader has saved Lag BaOmer celebrations from being scaled down, but warned against bringing children
Ynet, Associated Press |
Published: 05.02.21 , 15:32
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri “fought like a lion” to allow the Mount Meron event, where the country s biggest civilian disaster occurred on Friday, to take place, according to the head of the national holy places center.
A stampede that broke out at the Lag BaOmer festivities on the mountain last week claimed the lives of 45 worshippers, including 10 children, prompting the government to declare Sunday as national day of mourning.
Government repeatedly ignored official reports that tomb of 2nd century sage, where ultra-Orthodox Jews gather for annual Lag BaOmer festivities, had long been neglected and structures built around it were safety risk
Opinion: Previous commissions of inquiry have involved trial-like tribunals where witnesses testified with lawyers by their side fearing self-incrimination; what we need now is the truth about the chain of events so such tragedy does not happen again
The political implications of the Mount Meron crush
Analysis: The tragic Meron disaster befell Israel only a few days before Netanyahu s government mandate expires, begging the question whether he will now seek an extension and what part will the launch of an independent commission of inquiry play in government talks
Itamar Eichner, Tova Zimuky |
Published: 05.01.21 , 14:37
The tragedy in which 45 people lost their lives on Mount Meron befell Israel with only four days left for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a government.
The question now remains whether he will seek an extension of the mandate as a result a request that President Reuven Rivlin would decline according to most estimates in the political system.
I thought I was going to die : Survivors talk of horror of deadly Meron stampede Emergency teams were trying to pull people out not knowing which limbs belonged to which people ; injured man describes being crushed by hundreds of others falling on top of him during the disaster
Ynet |
Updated: 04.30.21 , 08:30
Survivors of the stampede that killed at least 44 people at the Lag BaOmer celebrations in northern Israel described a scene of horror as they found themselves trapped in the crush and surrounded by the dead. There were moments I felt like I was going to die, said Avreimi Nivin from Jerusalem.