Mount Meron tragedy

Five years after Meron: Dubi Weissenstern on memory, mourning, and meaning

The head of ZAKA reflects on the lessons of the Lag Ba’omer tragedy – and what they reveal about resilience, responsibility, and the challenges facing Israel today

Dubi Weissenstern, CEO of ZAKA, ref!ects on the Meron tragedy.
View of the gravesite of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai on Mount Meron, northern Israel, May 1, 2024.

A responsible choice: Why canceling Lag Ba’omer at Mount Meron was the right call - editorial

 Compound 89 in Meron is seen ahead of next week’s Lag BaOmer celebrations, as police conduct an inspection tour around the tomb complex, April 26, 2026

Five years after disaster, Israel limits Lag Ba'omer celebrations on Meron amid security fears

 The real festivities begin when a huge bonfire is lit at midnight on Lag Ba'omer.

Celebrating Lag Ba’omer, a heroic chapter in Jewish history - opinion


Mount Meron: Ex-chief justice appointed to head state inquiry panel

Naor was picked due to her stature leading the entire judicial branch and her experience handling highly complex matters.


Decision to investigate Meron tragedy took too long - editorial

Men and boys found themselves compressed into this tiny space with more people filing into the walkway from the rear, unaware of what was happening further down and trapping those already inside.

Jewish worshippers sing and dance as they stand on tribunes at the Lag Ba’omer event on Mount Meron on April 29.

Gov't approves state committee of inquiry into Meron disaster

Families of victims welcome govt decision, saying they can concentrate on memorializing their loved ones instead of campaigning to have the failures which led to the disaster investigated.

A VISITOR lights a candle at the site where 45 victims were killed in a stampede last week at Mount Meron.

Meron tragedy: Cabinet to vote on Sunday to approve investigation

When Defense Minister Benny Gantz submitted his proposal earlier this week, he described the need for a state committee as “a basic ethical imperative"

A funeral for one of the victims from the stampede that killed 45 and injured hundreds at Mount Meron on Lag Ba'Omer.

Gantz advances investigative committee into Meron disaster

"This is a basic ethical imperative as far as the families are concerned, and no less important, there is need for an investigation to prevent future tragedies of this nature."

Benny Gantz, leader of the Blue and White political party

Bennett-Lapid gov't's first 100 days: 6 essential measures to be passed

MIDDLE ISRAEL: Like Franklin Roosevelt in 1933, the new government will have to do several things quickly and flawlessly.

THE INCOMING government needs to present a roadmap for the first 100 days, including a two-year budget, judicial reform and a public transit overhaul. Traffic jams clog Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway in April (Illustrative).

Meron non-investigation: The reason behind it, haredi backlash - opinion

For many years, criticism regarding haredi leadership has been voiced, but this time, it is being accompanied by a wide internal awakening.

RESCUE TEAMS begin work at the scene of the Lag Ba’omer mass fatality on Mount Meron on April 30.

Three Ladies, Three Lattes: Baseless hatred or lousy leaders?

In these dark days for Israel, the tragedy at Mt. Meron seems so many disasters away already. How do you three ladies feel about what happened there and how it has been dealt with by the government?

OBSERVING THE day of mourning at a Mount Meron synagogue, May 2, 2021

Israel has a major societal disconnect and it must be fixed

First Meron, then Givat Ze’ev. All after a year of Covid chaos. It's time for our Haredi brethren and community leaders to shape up, but also for secular society to stop the baseless hatred.

THE FUNERAL of Rabbi Meshulam Dovid Soloveitchik, on Sunday, in Jerusalem. The failure of haredi communities to come to terms with COVID-19, leading to extraordinary high rates of illness and death, requires soul-searching both internally and externally.

75% of public, 62% of ultra-Orthodox want state inquiry of Meron disaster

Shas, UTJ have opposed a state commission of inquiry free of political influence but victims' families have largely supported it, insisting that only an independent probe can uncover the truth.

MEMORIALIZING THE 45 victims killed in the Meron stampede, at Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square on May 2