Israel marked a day of mourning on Sunday for 45 people who were crushed to death during a Jewish religious festival. The flags were lowered in the center of the pole, and questions were asked about responsibility for one of the country’s worst disasters.
Following Jewish tradition, funerals were held with little delay. More than 20 of Friday’s Mount Meron disaster victims were buried overnight after official identification was completed.
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Witnesses described a rush and a pyramid of bodies, including several children in a slippery metal-floored passage on the annual pilgrimage of ultra-orthodox worshipers to the grave of a second-century Jewish mystic, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, in northern Israel.
There are no words to describe the mood across the country, “said Rabbi Velvel Brevda, 66, on Sunday on Mount Meron, where prayer vigils were held. Israeli media estimated that around 100,000 people attended the event, which underlined a relaxation from the coronavirus restrictions in a country ahead of others when vaccination was introduced.
Questions have been raised as to whether the government and police were unwilling to limit the number of people on the premises, which the inspector state classified as dangerous years ago, to not upset the cutting-edge influencers—orthodox and political rabbis.
“A thorough investigation is needed,” Minister of Culture Hili Tropper told Kan’s public radio. “This terrible disaster will help everyone understand …that there shouldn’t be a place where the state doesn’t make the rules. The Justice Department said investigators are investigating whether there has been any police misconduct.
But Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai said in a message to the police that the police should not exaggerate. “We are working to uncover the truth and create educated and balanced lessons for all organizations involved in this complex event,” he said.
