Following a field tour Thursday morning in Netivot, led by Peretz Amar, the Southern District police commander, the ban was lifted on commemorating the anniversary of the death of Baba Sali, which will take place next week near his grave.
The police insisted, however, that the grave itself will be fenced off.
The tour was accompanied by Mayor Yehiel Zohar, representatives of the Baba Sali Association and representatives of the Fire Authority and Magen David Adom.
At the end of the tour it was decided to lift the ban subject to meeting safety requirements.
In the original ban, due to fears to physical security as well as spreading the Omicron variant of COVID-19, police estimated the commemoration would be attended by over 100,000 people.
The site, which can only hold up to 300 people, would present a serious risk to the security of those attending the event, according to the police.
Due to the Mount Meron tragedy last Lag Ba’omer, where 45 people were killed after a stampede at the religious bonfire-lighting ceremony there, police are anxious to prevent any similar tragedy.
Right-wing and religious MKs, including Shas MK Ya’acov Margi and Religious Zionist Party leader MK Bezalel Smotrich, were critical of the original ban.
זה פשוט לא יאמן. חגיגות סוף השנה האזרחית ההמוניות יתקיימו ללא כל מגבלה ורק את הילולת הבבא סאלי מבטלים. אין מילים. פשוט בושה. pic.twitter.com/p4vNtNaqZV
— בצלאל סמוטריץ' (@bezalelsm) December 29, 2021
The masses will “vote with their feet and the Hiloula will take place,” regardless of police orders, Margi said on the Knesset plenum. The Shas MK also claimed that the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community in Israel will march to Netivot to protest the ban.
Smotrich branded the ban “disgraceful” and made comparisons to secular New Year’s celebrations that are set to take place without restrictions.