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The Daily Edition

What Matters Most On Sunday, May 2, 2021

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Victims of the April 30, 2021, Mount Meron disaster: Top row (L-R): Chen Doron, Haim Rock, Ariel Tzadik, Yossi Kohn, Yisrael Anakvah, Yishai Mualem, Yosef Mastorov, Elkana Shiloh and Moshe Levy; 2nd row (L-R): 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 (L-R): 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.

Full list of victims

A Hasidic singer, a dozen boys and teens, a father of 11: All 45 Meron victims

Among those who died in the tragedy were 2 sets of brothers, children as young as 9, and visitors from abroad including 6 US citizens; identification complete after 2 days

The Knesset Guard lowers Israeli flags to half-staff outside the Knesset in Jerusalem as a national day of mourning begins for victims of the Meron disaster, May 2, 2021. (Noam Moskowitz/Knesset)

Israel holds day of mourning for 45 victims of deadly Meron crush

The funeral of Menahem Knowlowitz, one of the victims of the Meron disaster., May 01, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

‘My child is gone. Why?’ Meron crush victims buried; all 45 bodies identified

File: Ultra-Orthodox men take part in celebrations of Lag B'Omer on Mt. Meron, at the gravesite of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, May 17, 2014 (Flash90)

Before Israel's worst peacetime tragedy, years of warnings

Meron disaster site revealed as a place where nobody was ever really in charge

Caught in tug of war between authorities, religious sects and interest groups, Israel’s 2nd most-visited Jewish holy place has no full, official state oversight

A man weeps at the funeral of Rabbi Eliezer Goldberg, who died during Lag BaOmer celebrations at Mt. Meron in northern Israel, in Jerusalem on Friday, April 30, 2021.(AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Times of Israel Podcast

Daily Briefing May 2 – Anatomy of a disaster: What happened at Mount Meron?

Tune in Sunday through Thursday to hear ToI editors and reporters quickly catch you up on what’s important today

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)

Former police chiefs call for state commission of inquiry into Meron disaster

By Stuart Winer and ToI Staff

In letter to PM, ex-commanders say independent investigation needed to prevent future calamities; one says festivities should be halted for 4-5 years until proper safety in place

Public Security Minister Amir Ohana at the lighting of a bonfire during the celebrations of the Jewish holiday of Lag Baomer on Mt. Meron in northern Israel on April 29, 2021. (David Cohen/Flash90)

Police minister: I’m responsible for Meron, but that ‘doesn’t mean blame’

Israelis protest against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, outside the Prime Minister's official residence in Jerusalem on May 01, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Protesters outside Netanyahu’s residence urge state inquiry into Meron crush

By Emanuel Fabian

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit speaks at an event at Bar Ilan University, March 4, 2020. (Flash90)

Live updates (closed)

Gantz asks attorney general for position on forming state commission of inquiry

Blue and White chief says only such a panel will be able to manage ‘all aspects of investigation into disaster,’ will be able to prevent future incidents

6:32 pm

Palestinians report clashes with Israeli security forces in Beita, near Nablus
5:59 pm

Palestinian woman shot during attempted stabbing dies of her wounds
5:38 pm

Funeral of Meron victim Daniel Morris of New Jersey being live-streamed

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif listens to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during talks in Moscow, Russia, January 26, 2021. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP)

Analysis

Zarif may well have leaked explosive tapes ahead of presidential run

Iran’s FM is facing intense criticism for comments about the IRGC and Soleimani, but analysts say it’s the ideal way to get his message to the public

At Mt. Meron their dancing turned into mourning

Like so many other righteous souls seeking healing and relief, my late father went every Lag B’Omer for 12 years following his cancer diagnosis

Catriella Freedman

110 years before this tragedy, my great-grandfather died at Mt. Meron

Just as his death at a 1911 Lag B’Omer disaster changed the course of my own history, the families mourning today will never be the same

It is time for Israel to vaccinate the Palestinians

With no good argument against doing it, the state must recognize its obligation as an occupying power and follow international law on this matter

Dark web of hate targets us all, even a non-Jewish journalist like me

A secret network of racist Argentinian groups incite deadly violence against Jews and others as tech giants sit back and let it happen on their platforms

Illustrative: Leader of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish chassidic dynasty of Toldot Avraham visits Meron, Northern Israel, on May 25, 2020. (David Cohen/FLASH90)

110 years ago, 100 people fell from a balcony at Mt. Meron; 11 were killed

Disaster in 1911 underlines the perennial safety concerns, and failures, at the holy site where 45 ultra-Orthodox pilgrims were fatally crushed on Thursday night

Christian pilgrims hold candles as they gather during the ceremony of the Holy Fire at Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and rose from the dead, in the Old City of Jerusalem, May 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

After Mt. Meron disaster, police limit ‘Holy Fire’ Easter ceremony in Jerusalem

By Emanuel Fabian

Pope Francis waves after delivering the Regina Caeli noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, May 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope sends prayers for victims of Meron tragedy

An Israeli Home Front Command soldier is seen at the scene after a mass fatality scene during the celebrations of the Jewish holiday of Lag B'Omer on Mt. Meron, in northern Israel on April 30, 2021. (David Cohen/Flash90)

IDF: Female soldiers were attacked by Haredim when assisting at Meron disaster

Military says Home Front Command Search and Rescue forces ‘continued on their mission’ after being accosted while searching for bodies and injured victims after deadly crush

Israelis donate blood following the deadly Mount Meron crush, on April 30, 2021. (Magen David Adom)

MDA asks for more blood after 2,208 Israelis donate on Friday

Moshe Natan Neta Englard, 14, and Yehoshua Englard, 9, were from Jerusalem. (courtesy)

A dozen boys and teens under 18 among Meron dead; youngest victim was 9

By ToI Staff and AP

Heavy black smoke rises from Movaledan chemical factory in the vicinity of Qom, one of Iran’s prominent religious cities on May 2, 2021. (Screen capture: Twitter)

Huge blaze reported at Iranian chemical factory near Qom; cause unclear

By ToI Staff and Agencies

Fire injures at least 2; incident comes amid escalating tensions with Israel, which Tehran blamed for a blast at Natanz nuclear plant last month

US President Joe Biden, left, and Mossad chief Yossi Cohen. (Collage/AP)

Biden ‘drops by’ national security adviser’s White House meet with Mossad chief

In this file photo dated April 20, 2021, Iran's governor to the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Kazem Gharib Abadi leaves the 'Grand Hotel Vienna' where closed-door nuclear talks take place in Vienna, Austria. (AP Photo/Lisa Leutner, FILE)

Russia claims progress at Iran nuclear talks, hopes for results in 3 weeks

By Agencies and ToI Staff

El Al plane parked at Ben Gurion Airport in Lod on August 3, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Fighter jets said to escort El Al plane over Greece after false bomb warning

Passengers kept unaware of threat; caller claimed to US authorities there were explosives on aircraft en route from New York to Tel Aviv

Screen capture from video of a fire at Moshav Zeitan, May 2, 2021. (Twitter)

Fire breaks out in field near Ben Gurion Airport

Israeli soldiers wearing protective face masks walk on Jaffa Street in Jerusalem on June 23, 2020. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

IDF says no active COVID cases among soldiers, in first since start of outbreak

By Judah Ari Gross

Military declares itself coronavirus-free as Health Ministry records only 13 daily cases nationwide, the lowest in nearly a year

A COVID-19 patient lies in an ambulance while waiting to get an admission in a hospital in New Delhi on May 1, 2021. (Tauseef Mustafa/AFP)

India expands faltering vaccine drive as over 400,000 infections recorded in day

By Bhuvan Bagga and Glenda Kwek

Prof. Mohammed Dajani (left) and Yossi Klein Halevi at The Times of Israel's office in Jerusalem, May 2019 (ToI staff)

Times Will Tell

Podcast: An Israeli author asks a Palestinian scholar, Won’t you be my neighbor?

Agreeing to disagree is a lost art in the Middle East. Yossi Klein Halevi and Mohammed Dajani show us how it’s done

A Palestinian woman (R) approaching IDF soldiers at the Gush Etzion Junction in the West Bank, in an alleged attempt at a stabbing attack, May 2 2021. (screenshot: Twitter)

Palestinian woman tries to stab soldiers in West Bank, is shot dead — IDF

Fahima al-Hroub, 60, taken to Jerusalem hospital in critical condition, is pronounced dead, after approaching troops at Gush Etzion Junction with a knife, failing to heed warnings

Screenshot of a video where an Israeli security guard beats a Palestinian man in East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, posted on April 29 2021. (Screen capture: Wadi Hilweh Information Center/ Twitter)

Israeli security guard filmed beating Palestinian man in East Jerusalem

Israeli investors can now trade on Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange

By Shoshanna Solomon

Israel Securities Authority gives green light to Israeli market players to become members of the exchange and deal in precious metals, energy, equities and currencies

Illustration: Israelis withdraw money from Bank Hapoalim cash machines. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

US investment manager BlackRock says it holds 3% stake in Bank Hapoalim

By Shoshanna Solomon

Illustrative image of the American and Israeli flags. (3dmitry; iStock by Getty Images)

Israel-US fund seeking proposals for clean-energy joint research

By Shoshanna Solomon

Longtime radio journalist Walter Bingham sits in his office behind a wall filled with memorabilia, including a telegram regarding an award he won from the United Kingdom's King George VI. (Sam Sokol/ JTA)

97-year-old British-Israeli earns Guinness record for world’s oldest journalist

This image provided by NASA shows Loay Elbasyouni, a Palestinian engineer who is part of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter team on April 25, 2021. (NASA via AP)

From Gaza to Mars: Palestinian engineer behind helicopter flight on red planet

But Loay Elbasyouni, who grew up in Beit Hanoun before moving to US, says Israeli and Egyptian travel restrictions make visiting his hometown an even bigger challenge

More Headlines

Defense Minister Benny Gantz (C-L) and Prime Minister Benjamin (C) in the Knesset, in Jerusalem, April 6, 2021. (Alex Kolomoisky/POOL/Flash90)

Gantz rules out coalition with Netanyahu, says he’s committed to replacing him

Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, at the American Zionist Movement Washington Forum, December 12, 2018. (Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images via JTA)

Boston Jewish council votes to keep ZOA despite it ‘elevating white supremacism’

New York police officers respond to an attack at one of four synagogues in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, April 26, 2021. (NYPD via Twitter)

US police arrest man suspected of hate crimes against several Bronx synagogues

The aftermath of arson at a Jewish community center in Moscow, April 20, 2021. (RJC via JTA)

Moscow Jewish community center torched; German synagogue hit with rubber bullets

By JTA

A police car at the site of a suspected domestic violence murder of a woman in Haifa, May 1, 2021. (Israel Police)

Woman found dead in Haifa apartment; husband and son arrested

In this combination photo, actress Esmé Bianco appears at HBO's "Game of Thrones" final season premiere in New York on April 3, 2019, left, and musician Marilyn Manson appears at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, California. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Esmé Bianco accuses Marilyn Manson of sexual abuse, threats with ‘Nazi knife’

By AP and ToI Staff

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends an emergency Politburo meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea, July 25, 2020. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

‘A big blunder’: North Korea warns US of response to Biden’s ‘hostile policy’

By Hyung-Jin Kim

Committee Chairman Senator Mark Warner, left, and vice chairman Senator Marco Rubio, arrive for the Senate Select Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing for William Burns, nominee for Central Intelligence Agency director, February 24, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Tom Williams/Pool via AP)

US probing more ‘Havana syndrome’ attacks, including one outside White House

By AFP

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