Otzma Yehudit Chairman MK Itamar Ben Gvir arrived in the middle of the night at the parking lots adjacent to Mt. Meron, where hundreds of people who could not attend the Rashbi celebration inside the Meron compound were crammed as police were keeping their buses from exiting. The MK demanded the release of the people who were stuck in the parking lots without food or drink, contrary to the promises of the police in a tour in which he had participated led by the Homeland Security Committee that dealt with preparations for the Lag B’Omer mega-event.
As soon as he reached the parking lots, Ben Gvir sought out police officials and asked them to release the buses and let them get to Mt. Meron, to allow the passengers who had arrived from all over the country and were being detained needlessly.
Following Ben Gvir’s intervention, the police began to release the buses and allow the excited passengers to advance on their way to Meron, but as soon as the MK had left the area, the police resumed their policy and continued to detain busloads of passengers.
MK Itamar Ben Gvir said in a statement: “It’s unfortunate in my eyes that they did not keep their promises and I had to intervene to get the police to expedite the buses’ exit from the parking lots. It’s not clear to me how thousands of people were left stuck for hours and I view seriously the fact that people were left without food and water.”
According to Ben Gvir, “the decision-makers should have allowed more people to enter after they had been stuck in police checkpoints and in traffic jams without food and drink, even though they purchased tickets in advance, as they were told.”
“They should have shown more humanity and allowed in more people who sacrificed a lot to reach the celebration. It’s possible to prevent the loss of lives and at the same time allow more people to celebrate,” he noted.
