Israelis Mourn Mount Meron Deaths
The Times of Israel reported at least 45 Israelis were crushed to death and more than 150 people hurt in a human stampede at a mass gathering to celebrate the Lag B’Omer holiday at Mount Meron. This is a holy site to the Orthodox Jewish community. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident “a terrible disaster and promised a thorough investigation.”
I was recently on an online event that was hosted by Israel Breaking News, and I had a chance to hear from some Israelis that were calling in. This is really painful for them right now, as a people. If you’re in Israel, you can understand that it’s a very tiny country. They feel the pain when somebody dies. When somebody’s suffering, the entire country feels the pain. And they’re very, very sad by what’s happened there with 45 Israelis that had died during this stampede.
They’re saying as many as a hundred thousand religious Israelis were crammed onto Mount Meron. This holy site only had one exit and it was very steep, and it was very slippery. Sadly, during such an important celebration for the Jewish people, there was no security management of this event at all. The police chief of the Northern area of Israel took responsibility for the lack of management, which could have prevented the incident. Please be praying for Israel and the Jewish people who are dealing with a very difficult time.
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