JERUSALEM: An inquiry into a deadly stampede at a Jewish pilgrimage site in April began hearing testimonies on Sunday to determine what led to Israel's worst civilian disaster. Forty-five people were killed, among them US and Canadian citizens.
Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews thronged the Galilee hillside tomb of second-century sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai on Apr 30 for the annual Lag B'Omer festival that includes all-night prayer, mystical songs and dance. During the ceremony, part of the crowd surged into a narrow tunnel and 45 men and boys were asphyxiated or trampled.
Israel's government watchdog years ago deemed the Mount Meron site hazardous. Although the number of worshippers this year at the site was lower than in previous years, it was still beyond those permitted at the time by COVID-19 curbs. Some Israelis had questioned whether the former government under Benjamin Netanyahu and police were reluctant to further limit the crowd size because of pressure from influential ultra-Orthodox leaders.
Netanyahu had promised a thorough investigation, but his cabinet, which included ultra-Orthodox ministers, never took formal action and major hostilities between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas broke out less than two weeks later.Launched shortly after a new government was sworn in, the state commission of inquiry holds court powers in that it can summon witnesses and require them to produce documents or any other evidence it deems relevant.
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