Dozens of ultra-Orthodox believers broke through police barricades to enter the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai on Mount Meron on Thursday afternoon, nearly trampling on those inside, in a chaotic capstone to mark the Lag B’Omer holiday after police cleared it had successfully managed to restrict crowds from Wednesday evening.
The footage showed crowds of pilgrims pushing through barricades to enter the room housing Bar Yochai’s tomb, while those inside pushed them back and yelled at them to stop — exactly the kind of situation the Police tried to prevent a gathering last year at the age of 45. People were crushed to death in the deadliest civilian disaster in Israeli history.
Additional footage from the scene showed police officers clashed with pilgrims attempting to enter the site. The intruders were later seen partying after breaching the cordon to the compound’s central courtyard in what appeared to be a tightly packed crowd.
The unrest came just before a state memorial service planned to commemorate the victims of last year’s deadly crush. Hebrew media reported that some surviving family members who tried to enter the compound were spat on or had objects thrown at them.
Fifteen people were arrested and two officers were slightly injured, public broadcaster Kan reported, adding that police rescued a number of children from the crush of the crowd.
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In the wake of the violent mob break-in, authorities said they were ending the celebrations early, leaving thousands who bought tickets Thursday night stranded.
In a statement announcing the decision, Deputy Religious Affairs Minister Matan Kahana accused “groups of extremist fanatics” of intentionally sabotaging the celebrations. He expressed his support for the actions taken by the police to “protect life”.
The memorial service took place later as planned. Tzvi Tessler, who was put in charge of coordinating the Meron pilgrimage after the tragedy, apologized to the families for the way the day had gone.
“I’m sorry that a group of people decided to intentionally and cowardly destroy what we built and managed to do it,” he said, according to Ynet.
“We need to find out with the police what happened. We’ll see if we need to get better at certain things together with the police.
מירון חזר לידי החוגגים pic.twitter.com/uz1hZosdFt
— משה ויסברג (@moshe_nayes) May 19, 2022
New restrictions had been put in place in the run-up to the Lag B’Omer celebrations following last year’s tragedy, which were largely followed through Thursday afternoon.
Police said the barricades that the men tore down were there to separate men from women at the holy site and that a number of the women and children who were inside at the time needed to be pulled out quickly. to avoid injury.
Video footage from the scene shows the men violently tearing down the metal barriers, kicking them and occasionally throwing pieces of metal.
“Officials have rescued the women and children from the memorial and are working to prevent a stampede and a mortal rush,” police said.
“At this point in time, all bus service to the mountain has been suspended. The public is asked not to attempt to enter the site,” police added.
Public Safety Minister Omer Barlev issued a statement denouncing the “ultra-Orthodox extremist groups who have behaved violently and cruelly” in Meron and offering his support for the authorities’ decision to end the event early.
News site Behadrei Haredim reported that police responded by removing some barricades and halting their attempts to control the crowds thronging the site, instead allowing them to flow in unhindered.
Unlike previous years, when hundreds of thousands packed the mountainside shrine, this year police limited entry to 16,000 people at any given time, angering some pilgrims.
About 8,000 police officers were deployed in the area around the tomb on Wednesday to enforce new safety rules.
עימותים קשים בכניסה לציון הרשב”י pic.twitter.com/5CXbU3PviT
— אבי גדלוביץ (@avigad27) May 19, 2022
Order was generally maintained on Wednesday and Thursday, although some clashes with police were reported.
Inside the site, the crowds were significantly smaller than in previous years. “It’s empty inside,” complained one pilgrim, who said he had traveled four hours from Jerusalem but was only allowed inside the tomb for 30 seconds.
Victims of the April 30, 2021 Mount Meron disaster: Top row (LR): Chen Doron, Haim Rock, Ariel Tzadik, Yossi Kohn, Yisrael Anakvah, Yishai Mualem, Yosef Mastorov, Elkana Shiloh and Moshe Levy; 2nd row (from right): Shlomo Zalman Leibowitz, Shmuel Zvi Klagsbald, Mordechai Fakata, Dubi Steinmetz, Abraham Daniel Ambon, Eliezer Gafner, Yosef Greenbaum, Yehuda Leib Rubin and Yaakov Elchanan Starkovsky; 3rd row (from right): Haim Seler, Yehoshua Englard, Moshe Natan Neta Englard, Yedidia Hayut, Moshe Ben Shalom, David Krauss, Eliezer Tzvi Joseph, Yosef Yehuda Levy and Yosef Amram Tauber; 4th row (L-R): Menachem Knoblowitz, Elazar Yitzchok Koltai, Yosef David Elhadad, Shraga Gestetner, Yonatan Hebroni, Shimon Matalon, Elazar Mordechai Goldberg, Moshe Bergman and Daniel Morris; 5th row (L-R): Ariel Achdut, Moshe Mordechai Elhadad, Hanoch Slod, Yedidya Fogel, Menahem Zakbah, Simcha Diskind, Moshe Tzarfati, Nahman Kirshbaum and Eliyahu Cohen.
Authorities have introduced several security measures to avoid repeating last year’s event, limiting crowds, requiring tickets and changing the way the event is organised.
The government also repaired stairways and other infrastructure around the site to increase security.
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