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.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits a man injured in the Mount Meron disaster, at Haifa s Rambam Medical Center, May 2, 2021. (Courtesy)
Amid growing questions over the lack of state oversight at the Mount Meron compound, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited some of the people injured in a disaster at the site last week that saw 45 people crushed to death during a religious festival.
Israel was observing a national day of mourning on Sunday for the victims, who ranged in age from 9 to 65. Sixteen of over 150 people initially hospitalized remained in the hospital Sunday evening.
At Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center, Netanyahu said the casualties were receiving “marvelous care,” and added that some of the people there owed their lives to the rescue efforts by emergency services.
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Haredi hats and broken glasses are seen at the site of the Mt. Meron disaster in northern Israel, Friday, April 30, 2021 (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)
As the initial shock and horror over Thursday night’s deadly crush at Lag B’Omer festivities on Mount Meron began to subside, focus started to turn on Friday toward the matter of who was to blame for the packed conditions at the site that led to the deaths of 45 people and the injuring of dozens of others in the fatal stampede.
Stark questions will likely be directed at political, civil and law enforcement officials involved in planning, approving and securing the event, amid talk of a potential state commission of inquiry to thoroughly investigate the disaster.