Israelis of all backgrounds and faiths rallied together over the weekend after a stampede that left 45 dead occurred during a festivity on Mount Meron on Thursday night, offering food, shelter and blood to survivors and their families.
The tragedy occurred when ultra-Orthodox worshippers exited the annual mass celebration of the Jewish festival of Lag Ba’Omer on Thursday night. Crowding in a narrow corridor on their way out, people crushed one another before on-site emergency services began evacuating the premises.
Following news of the disaster, Israelis of all backgrounds rushed to aid survivors. Residents of Arab and Druze towns in northern Israel set up refreshment centers for the benefit of evacuees on their way home, and prepared to host those who could not make it back home in time for the Jewish Sabbath.
Later in the weekend, blood donation stations were set up across the country, and secular and religious Jews alike lined up to donate their blood for the wounded. Some 2,000 blood transfusions were donated, and the mass mobilization meant that Magen David Adom had managed to acquire all the blood that was required.
Meanwhile, the President’s Residence established a hotline to aid people searching for their loved ones. During the incident, the cellular network at the site collapsed, making it difficult to get in touch with and identify the victims.
Israeli airline El Al has also announced that it will offer free flights to Israel for immediate family members of the deceased.
Throughout the weekend, cultural events and music concerts were cancelled out of solidarity with the families of the deceased and survivors, and radio stations played solemn music usually associated with Israel’s remembrance days.
On Sunday, flags across the country and in diplomatic missions around the world were lowered to half-mast as Israel marked a national day of mourning.
The annual celebration in northern Israel is always a crowded event and was highly anticipated following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.
“This is one of the most difficult disasters I have dealt with during my volunteering for the ZAKA organization,” says volunteer Haim Spielberg who provided first aid at the scene.
“Everywhere, there were cries for help. Medics and paramedics were administering CPR on some of them. There was the smell of death and bereavement in the air as more and more stretchers with lifeless people were carried from the scene.”
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