With tight security: Mossad head David (Dedi) Barnea participated Tuesday night in a wedding held in the ultra-Orthodox city of Modi'in Illit. This is the wedding of Barnea's nephew, son of his brother Rabbi Zohar Barnea.
Zohar repented at the age of 13, served in the Golani Patrol and became a devout Breslov Hasid. During the Meron disaster, Zohar stayed near Zion Rashbi and survived. In a past interview with the "Family" newspaper, he said: "I went to Meron early because of Dadi's request. The appointment of D. [Barnea] from the Mossad was then about to be decided whether he would accept the position, or whether it would be another candidate. Dadi asked me to go up to Meron and pray that he would be the one to accept the appointment. I did so happily."
Only in celebrations. Mossad Director Dadi Barnea, Photo: Gideon Markowitz
"We marched against the direction of traffic, at first it was the usual crowding," Barnea recalled. "But then the pressure mounted. We know the density from previous years, but here it's a crowding that doesn't drain anywhere and the pressure only increases. We haven't encountered anything like that."
Barnea added: "I hear shouting and screaming and pressure, a man with his back to the railing shouted in my ear, 'I can't do it anymore.' I took off my hat and just started waving at him, hoping the air would help him. My son was standing next to me and we kept eye contact. Only then did I realize that we were no longer in a normal stressful situation, but in mortal danger. I looked around and realized that people weren't just complaining about the overcrowding, they were just dying before my eyes. It was a terrifying moment. People around me were crushed to death, but I myself was in a kind of protected side bubble."
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