Does anyone remember Simcha Bunim Diskind, the young father of two small children whose glasses were found lying on the steps near where he was trampled to death? A Gur Hassid, Diskind was considered an “ilui,” a Talmudic genius.
What about Donny Morris, the 19-year-old New Jersey resident who was in Israel for his gap year in yeshiva. Morris had a contagious laugh they say, and a warm heart, always ready to help friends and family.
Those four were among 45 killed in the Meron disaster on Lag Ba’omer; killed in a stampede that if the authorities would have bothered paying attention, would have never happened. Forty-five sons, husbands, fathers, brothers and friends snuffed from life because of negligence.
Sunday will mark a month since the tragedy. Has anyone been arrested? Has anyone resigned? Has the government established a commission of inquiry? Sadly, the answer to all this – no.
Does anyone in Israel care?
It is true that Israel was a little distracted with Hamas for 11 days in the middle of the month, but that is no excuse.
Forty-five people were killed in a disaster that could have been prevented – and nothing has changed. The country moved on. The people responsible moved on. The only people who did not move on are the children, spouses, parents and siblings of all those men and boys killed. They are still in mourning, for a loss that could have been avoided.
The Meron tragedy in a normal country – if there even is such a thing – would have never dropped off the headlines.
In a normal country, those responsible would have already been arrested, interrogated and indicted. In a normal country, the people who allowed this to happen would have resigned or been forced from office.
In a normal country, you don’t just move on.
Take what happened in northern Italy this week. Fourteen people were killed – including five Israelis – when a cable car tumbled into a mountain. The tragedy occurred on Sunday. By Wednesday, three people had been arrested and were being questioned as suspects of work negligence that caused the crash. Three days and three suspects already in custody.
In Israel? Nothing.
Another example. A horrific accident took place in Taiwan on April 2, when a construction truck slid down a mountain north of Hualien City, colliding with an oncoming train. Forty-nine people were killed, in the worst train collision in Taiwanese history. Two days later, Transportation Minister Lin Chia-Lung resigned.
Have any of the ministers involved in the Meron disaster stepped down? None. One of them, Public Security Minister Amir Ohana from Likud, even tried to explain: “I am responsible, but being responsible does not mean that I am to blame.”
Ohana needs to understand that being responsible does mean that he is to blame, that holding the title “public security minister” means he is responsible for the security of the public. Does he not care?
If this lack of accountability weren’t bad enough, there was the sham of a hearing in the Knesset this week. The MKs should have already established an independent commission of inquiry, one that received unanimous support from across partisan political lines. Investigating why and how 45 people lost their lives in the county’s worst civilian disaster should not be concerned with politics.
But of course, like almost everything else in Israel these days, it is.
The Likud opposed the establishment of the commission – which is supported by the families of the dead – as did the haredi members of the committee, who in their fight against the initiative organized a walkout and filibuster.
Think about that for a moment. The people killed were almost all exclusively haredi. If they voted, they and their families almost assuredly voted exclusively for UTJ and Shas. So the haredi MKs and parties who roam Israel’s corridors of power represent those 45 who died. That is their responsibility.
But how did they vote on the proposal to establish a commission of inquiry? Unbelievably, they voted against it.
How does any of this make sense? The haredi MKs should have been the MKs most demanding the investigation, and that it be headed by a Supreme Court justice without political intervention. They should have made this demand the day after the disaster. It was obvious.
After all, what is the reason they are even in the Knesset if not to serve and protect their constituents? Isn’t that why people run for public office – to advance and protect the public, especially their own voters?
Not in Israel, apparently. These MKs, and others like them, are in the Knesset not to serve their constituents, but to protect themselves and ensure their own political survival.
The reason that MKs like Yakov Asher and Yaakov Tessler from UTJ or Michael Malkieli from Shas voted against the establishment of a state commission of inquiry is because they are afraid what the findings will say – about them.
They are concerned a real investigation will uncover the truth: that they, the haredi MKs and their patrons, not only ignored warnings but swept them under the rug to allow the mass event to take place.
The Likud MKs are no better. Ohana should be renamed “Balfour Security Minister,” since in practice all he seems to care about is protecting his political patron living in the Prime Minister’s Residence on Balfour Street, Benjamin Netanyahu.
And he has reason to. Netanyahu allowed this situation to happen. He might not have personally approved the security arrangements that fateful night, but he didn’t need to. He is the one who for years allowed the haredim to do whatever they wanted in Israel, to function as an independent sovereign power.
Nowhere did this play itself out better than during the corona lockdowns, when haredim kept their schools open even as all the rest of the country’s schools were shut. Life went on as normal in their communities, even as haredim constituted four times the rate of infections compared to the rest of Israel. People were dying but no one cared, as long as they were allowed to do what they wanted.
They literally got away with murder.
And no one stopped them. No one stopped them because Netanyahu refused to even try. He needed the haredim politically then, and he continues to need them now, as he fights for political survival. And this is the true story of Meron.
The haredi MKs knew about the dangers; they knew tens of thousands crowded into a single space could end in disaster. But there was pressure from below – hassidic groups and other interest groups – for whom they lobbied to allow the place to open without restrictions.
This is not leadership. This is insanity.
In the course of Israel’s history, 18 state commissions of inquiry were established, some to investigate failures like the Yom Kippur War, and some to investigate banking issues (Bejski Commission).
How many were established during the 15 years of Netanyahu as prime minister? Zero.
This is not how a state is meant to function. Individuals or interest groups cannot be allowed to do whatever they want with total disregard for the rules of the state and the welfare of its people.
But that is how Israel operates today. Forty-five dead, and nothing happens; people get shot in gang wars on the streets of Israeli-Arab towns, and no one does a thing; Bedouin clans roam the Negev with machine guns, and the police are not found or at best helpless.
This is the true legacy of the last two-and-a-half years of Israel’s political mess. It is not just about the instability, the mudslinging, the national paralysis and the ugly discourse.
It is about lawlessness. No one cares anymore about the rule of law and the loss of life.
Forty-five people were killed because of negligence, callousness and political self-preservation. And while a state commission of inquiry is critical, it is merely the first step toward fixing the problem.
An entire transformation is required in the relationship between the state and the haredi community. If that doesn’t happen, the next Meron is only a matter of time. The clock is ticking.