Mount Meron
The bill to pass an official commission of inquiry into Israel’s worst-ever civil disaster passed by a vote of 19-13, after a walkout by Knesset members associated with the Likud bloc.
Fending off criticism over the deadly Meron stampede on April 30, Amir Ohana insists that responsibility and guilt are two separate things.
“It is our fundamental duty to examine every aspect of the Meron disaster,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells a special Knesset session.
“Each one of you is working in their unique field to strengthen the links and to create a larger common denominator for us all,” says Israeli President Reuven Rivlin to this year’s award-winners.
The 19-year-old student from New Jersey was laid to rest in Jerusalem in a funeral attended by tens of thousands, including those online.
The head of the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute rebuffs claims identifying the bodies of Meron victims took too long.
A commission of inquiry “does not look for guilt; it examines, listens and recommends,” says former Supreme Court Justice Dalia Dorner.
They came from all over Israel and the world to celebrate Lag B’Omer in the first open religious event since the start of the pandemic. Forty-five would end up crushed to death, while more than 150 were injured.
“At critical times, our people come together and this is also what we are doing now,” says Israeli premier.
“The United States stands with the people of Israel and with Jewish communities the world over in mourning the terrible tragedy at Mount Meron,” said U.S. President Joe Biden.
“There were bodies piled up on top of each other—some of the people were alive, and some of them were already dead. I have never seen anything like this before,” said Itzik Itach, a senior volunteer paramedic and logistics director of the Jerusalem area for Rescuers Without Borders.
“We pray for the recovery of those injured and mourn for the families who lost loved ones,” said the American Jewish Committee. “May their memories be a blessing.”
