Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the cancellation of this year’s main Lag B’Omer event on Mount Meron in northern Israel, typically attended by hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox men, citing safety concerns amid the shaky ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
A letter signed by Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs and sent out by the premier’s office says the Hillula of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai — honoring the 2nd-century Mishnaic sage — will be held this year with limited, symbolic attendance, with the exact details to be determined later.
The reason, the letter says, is “fear of a mass-casualty event due to the fragility of the ceasefire with Lebanon, the proximity of the site to the Lebanon border, the launching of rockets to the area, and difficulties in the timely large-scale evacuation of the participants.”
Lag B’Omer will be marked this year on the evening of Monday, May 4, and on the following day.
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