Approaching an interim report in the
state
committee for the Mount Meron disaster:
Safety engineer Rami Shemesh stated that religious events in the country do not meet safety standards, because there are not enough escape routes in the holy places.
According to him, there are three escape openings at the Western Wall, and two on the Temple Mount - while in practice, an event at the Western Wall that contains 30,000 people - needs at least 31 openings.
Further, Shemesh claimed that Mount Meron has 10 percent of escape openings compared to what is required.
Meanwhile, the Meron Disaster Research Committee announced earlier this month its intention to submit an interim report, which will focus on recommendations for holding the Lag B'Omer 2022 celebration on Mt.
The committee asked the authorities and the parties involved to provide it with updates on the preparations for the celebration, by the 17th of this month.
"After the committee has collected a great deal of material and heard testimonies from relevant parties, it intends to submit an interim report focusing on interim recommendations for the preparations required for the forthcoming revelry," the committee's decision said.
Shortly before that, the testimony of the architect Eran Mabel, who designed the outline plan on Mount Meron, was given.
Mabel described the conduct at the site as "lawlessness" and claimed that any of his proposals to increase safety at the site had met with contempt and a desire from officials to show that they controlled the site.
"I was told, 'You will not do theater here like Caesarea,'" he said.
In another case, after proposing to set up a visitor center, he replied: "'We do not want people like you, we are good with what the mountain looks like,'" explaining the opposition by saying it was seen as a "secular sign."
He further testified that the outline plan he was familiar with allowed up to 25,000 people to enter the site at a time.
Babel conducted a survey of visitors, according to which two and a quarter million visitors come each year, and in the Lag B'Omer celebration alone, 450,000 people alone in just two days:
Compressed people stand and push each other.
The openings are small and narrow, if a disaster happens there is no escape opening.
In the tomb mark there is room for a hundred people.
One leaves and one enters. "
Alongside these, a report was received this month according to which senior police officials urged Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai to remove Northern District Commander Superintendent Shimon Lavi from office, and in an unprecedented way accused him of: ".