Complacence on Covid-19: 44 Israelis killed, 150 wounded in stampede

Virendra Pandit 

New Delhi: At least 44 people were killed and 150 injured in a stampede at an Israeli religious festival which tens of thousands of ultra-conservative Jews flocked to attend, throwing to the wind the Covid-19 Appropriate Protocol (CAP), only a few days after the government eased mask-wearing restrictions after vaccination of most of the population.

Some 5,000 police officers were said to have been deployed at the event.

And now Israeli officials are worried about the second wave of Covid-19 wave surging as nobody knows how many participants contracted fresh infections at the event.

Earlier, Health Ministry had urged Israelis not to travel to the festival site of Mount Meron, saying the festivities could lead to mass coronavirus contagion, the Times of Israel reported on Friday.

Yet there was significant pressure on authorities to allow it to go ahead — especially as it was canceled last year due to the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic.

In one of the worst peacetime tragedies in Israel, these people were crushed in a stampede overnight at an overcrowded Jewish religious gathering.

Flouting restrictions, tens of thousands of complacent Jews rushed to celebrate the Lag B’Omer, an annual religious holiday marked with all-night bonfires, prayer, and dancing, at Mount Meron. The town is the site of the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a second-century sage, and is viewed as one of the holiest sites in the Jewish world.

Jerusalem had recently eased mask-wearing requirements in open areas and other restrictions after the success of a massive vaccination drive that significantly brought down coronavirus-related cases.

The resulting “normalcy”, with limitations, saw rejoicing crowds across the country on Thursday evening with youngsters, especially school children, coming out in large numbers in open spaces putting bonfires that accompanied the Lag BaOmer festivities.

Tens of thousands of ultra-orthodox Hebrews participated in the tragic event Thursday night at the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, making it the largest event held in Israel since the outbreak of Covid-19 last year.

Initial police investigation indicated that some people slipped on the slippery walkway and stairs, creating a “human avalanche” that crushed many in the crowd.

Fire-fighters worked to free the trapped, supported by Israeli Air Force helicopters and rescue services as police tried to clear thousands of frenzied people from the area.

At around midnight on Thursday, some 100,000 people were at the site, with an additional 100,000 expected to arrive by Friday morning, local media reported, quoting event organizers.

Since the site was so densely populated, search and rescue authorities say they struggled to evacuate trapped people. “It happened in a split second; people just fell, trampling each other. It was a disaster,” a witness told the newspaper.

Panic and fear engulfed the survivors as many were trapped next to the dead, struggling to breathe and waiting for rescue.

Footage from the walkway showed shoes, hats, baby strollers, smashed eyeglasses, and water bottles strewn on the ground. Metal railings were torn from the ground.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a “terrible disaster” requesting rescue authorities to bolster their presence at the scene. President Reuven Rivlin also offered his condolences.

A Times of Israel report published before the tragic incident said that the government failed to reach an agreement on how to handle the celebrations, with Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly wary of angering Haredi (ultra-orthodox Jews) political parties by imposing restrictions.

The ultra-orthodox parties have firmly stood behind Netanyahu during the political uncertainty that has gripped Israel over the last two years throwing four inconclusive elections.

Each year, hundreds of thousands of Jews– many of them ultra-Orthodox — flock to Bar Yochai’s tomb site on Mount Meron, which lies in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel, about 40 kilometers northeast of the city of Haifa.