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Mount Meron disaster

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives for a press conference in Jerusalem, March 19, 2026. (Ronen Zvulun, Pool Photo via AP)
Tal Schneider
Op-ed
Tal Schneider
The cost of Netanyahu’s consistent evasion of responsibility is paid in lives
From the 2021 Mount Meron disaster to October 7 and the flydubai hijacking attempt, the prime minister repeatedly ignores warnings and shifts the blame to others, with fatal consequences
Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok Grand Rabbi and his followers light a bonfire during Lag Baomer celebrations, in Meron, on May 15, 2025. (David Cohen/Flash90)
May 16, 2025, 2:36 pm
Tens of thousands celebrate Lag B’Omer at Meron, year after site closed amid rocket fire
Revelers defy firefighters trying to extinguish unlawful bonfires as festivities bounce back after wartime closure; sex offender rabbi lights bonfire; some passageways overcrowded
By Charlie Summers
Illustrative: Hasidic Jews in a synagogue in Bnei Brak, March 24, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
December 26, 2024, 7:03 pm
Report: Ben Gvir tried to prevent demolition of illegally constructed Haredi synagogues
Paper cites chief of Real Estate Enforcement Division as telling national security minister there could be ‘a second Meron disaster in Bnei Brak’
By Sam Sokol
Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai, left, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir at the scene of a terror attack in the West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, outside of Jerusalem, August 1, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
May 29, 2024, 12:33 am
Ben Gvir cancels hearing for police chief, but pushes on with attempt to fire him
After AG said planned ouster unlawful, minister vows to bring Kobi Shabtai’s dismissal to cabinet in accordance with Meron disaster inquiry; Lapid: If so, PM must be fired as well
By Jeremy Sharon and ToI Staff
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai at the scene of a fatal shooting attack in Re'em Junction, on February 16, 2024. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)
May 27, 2024, 10:53 pm
Ben Gvir says he’ll recommend firing police chief, weeks before term due to end
National security minister cites Shabtai’s ‘general disfunction,’ failures in prep for Meron closure; sources near commissioner dismiss claims, slam Ben Gvir’s ‘thuggish behavior’
By ToI Staff
Haredi Jews watch preperations for the Lag B'Omer festivities at the Shimon HaTzadik tomb in Jerusalem on May 22, 2024. (Photo by Arie Leib Abrams/FLASH90)
May 25, 2024, 8:12 am
Fearing Hezbollah in north, state moves Lag B’Omer event to East Jerusalem flashpoint
With Mt. Meron in the Galilee closed due to missile fears, 30,000 pilgrims are expected to stream into the Shimon HaTzadik tomb in Sheikh Jarrah on Saturday night and Sunday
By Canaan Lidor
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.
March 7, 2024, 5:43 pm
Day after Meron inquiry rebuke, PM’s office says cabinet to mull acting on findings
Netanyahu’s office says proposal to be handed to ministers within 30 days, doesn’t address commission’s finding that he bears personal responsibility for deadly crush
By ToI Staff
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.
March 7, 2024, 1:47 pm
Daily Briefing March 7: Day 153 – Oct. 7 & Meron disaster: Pattern of poor leadership?
Editor David Horovitz on reports that Biden may ban US arms from use in Rafah, blowback from the long-awaited Meron inquiry, and why Jews today worry more than in any post-WWII era
By ToI Staff
Illustrative: Likud leader and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives to testify before the Meron Disaster Inquiry Committee, in Jerusalem, on July 21, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
March 7, 2024, 12:51 pm
How the damning findings of the Meron disaster inquiry are good for Netanyahu
In normal circumstances, a prime minister blamed for the deaths of 45 people would have packed up and gone — but not this one
By Yuval Yoaz
United Torah Judaism leader Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf in Tel Aviv on February 4, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90)
March 7, 2024, 6:28 am
Ultra-Orthodox parties: We’ll learn lessons of inquiry into deadly 2021 Meron crush
Shas minister pans PM’s Likud party for painting commission’s work as politically motivated, demands retraction; Likud minister Barkat urges Netanyahu to take responsibility
By ToI Staff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the scene of the disaster on Mount Meron, in northern Israel on April 30, 2021. (David Cohen/Flash90)
March 6, 2024, 7:07 pm
Likud derides inquiry on deadly Meron crush as ‘political weapon’ against Netanyahu
PM’s party rails at critics after they link 2021 disaster to Oct. 7, with Lapid slamming ‘pattern of neglect’; top cop and an ex-minister take responsibility; AG renews criminal probe
By Sam Sokol and ToI Staff
Security officials and rescuers at the scene of a fatal crush during Lag B'Omer celebrations at Mt. Meron in northern Israel, on April 30, 2021. (AP Photo)
March 6, 2024, 5:20 pm
Full text of inquiry’s findings on officials’ responsibility for 2021 Meron disaster
Commission finds Netanyahu ‘personally responsible’ for crush at shrine in which 45 men and boys were killed, but declines to make operational recommendations against him
By ToI Staff
Israeli rescue forces and police at the scene after a deadly crush during celebrations on Mount Meron in northern Israel on April 30, 2021 (David Cohen/Flash90)
March 6, 2024, 1:59 pm
State inquiry blames Netanyahu, but does not sanction him, for deadly 2021 Meron crush
Commission says there was ‘reasonable basis’ to conclude PM knew site was dangerous; also names Ohana, Shabtai as responsible for disaster in which 45 men and boys died
By ToI Staff
Benny Gantz, left, a key member of Israel's War Cabinet is welcomed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, for a private meeting at the Capitol in Washington, March 5, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
March 6, 2024, 1:25 pm
Daily Briefing Mar. 6: Day 152 – Gantz wraps up US trip, with questionable results
Political correspondent Tal Schneider discusses war cabinet minister’s DC visit, Ramadan and Mount Meron; reporter Canaan Lidor looks at Sderot returnees and southern peaceniks
By ToI Staff
Haredi Jews celebrate Lag B'Omer at Mount Meron on May 8, 2023. (David Cohen/ Flash90)
May 8, 2023, 10:48 pm
At Meron pilgrimage, joy and grief mix as Haredi traditions and secular Israel clash
At renewed annual Lag B’Omer event, worshipers mourn the 45 attendees killed in deadly 2021 crush, while chafing at regulations meant to head off another disaster
By Canaan Lidor
Haredi Jews attend Lag B'Omer celebrations in Mount Meron on May 8, 2023. (David Cohen/Flash90)
May 8, 2023, 9:50 pm
At Mount Meron holy site, man allegedly bites brother of victim of deadly 2021 crush
Spokesperson for minister of heritage cut on arm during altercation ahead of annual pilgrimage to shrine; police let off perpetrator with a warning to ‘make sure things stay calm’
By Canaan Lidor
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