A crowd of Jewish worshippers broke through police barriers Thursday on an annual pilgrimage to Mount Meron in Israel, a year after forty-five other people were crushed to death in a stampede.
Israeli police said “dozens of extremists” broke into a segment of devotees as they “savagely threw fences and endangered human lives. “
Ultra-Orthodox Jews to enter the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai clash with police in the village of Meron in northern Israel Photo: AFP/Menahem KAHANA
Police withdrew from the scene when an organization of worshippers broke down the barriers and stormed, an AFP photographer said, adding that police returned later.
More than 10,000 worshipers had gathered in the strictest security measures for the start of the pilgrimage on Wednesday.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews climb a fence to triumph at the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a year after forty-five other people were crushed to death on Mount Meron Photo: AFP/Menahem KAHANA
The pilgrimage to Mount Meron takes place at the Lag BaOmer supper, when most ultra-Orthodox Jews flock to the site of the tomb of the respected second-century rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.
On April 30 last year, a stampede broke out in the male segment of the bi-sex when the length of the crowd turned a narrow passageway into a fatal bottleneck.
At least 16 young men were among those trampled to death, in what then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called “one of the worst” mistakes in Israel’s history.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews pray at the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai in the early morning of May 19, 2022 at the beginning of the BaOmer lag holiday Photo: AFP/Menahem KAHANA
An AFP photographer saw several worshippers arrested and handcuffed by police on Thursday. In addition, some of the site’s security cameras and electrical appliances were sabotaged, the photographer said.
Police then stopped the movement of more worshippers to the site, where the pilgrimage continues until Thursday night.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Wednesday that his government had made a “considerable investment” in new security measures to ensure it was not repeated last year.
Among the adjustments is a cap of 16,000 pilgrims allowed at any given time.
On Tuesday, police said they seized knives and hammers belonging to an “ultra-Orthodox extremist faction” that allegedly sabotaged communications infrastructure at the site.
Some ultra-Orthodox sects are anti-Zionist and oppose the Jewish state’s way of life. They are hostile to Israel’s state institutions, adding their police force.