Israel is still in shock from the disaster that struck at Mt. Meron and in mourning for the 45 people that were killed there. Hospitals in the North were overwhelmed with injured that were brought in in large numbers by the rescue services. While it is still not fully clear what happened during that fateful Thursday night, there is no doubt that the sheer quantity of people made a disaster unavoidable once it was set in motion.
Since Friday morning, radio and TV have talked about nothing else and numerous experts have given their opinions about every possible aspect of the disaster, from the overcrowding, the terrain conditions, the preparedness of the police and the disobedience of the public. Soon the debate will focus on the issue of who is responsible, because with practically every issue in Israel, the blame game is being played very intensively, both in order to be able to accuse others of being responsible, but to the same extend to claim to be not responsible. It appears not to be useful anymore at this point to even review the people and organizations that have been accused of having responsibility for the disaster, but one thing should be clear: nobody is immune in this case. When the police officers at the site are guilty, then so are their commanders, and the senior command of the police. The issue of political responsibility has been discussed extensively even though nobody has been willing or able to clearly state that politics is a major factor in this disaster (which would not be surprising since politics is a major factor in anything that occurs in Israel). But if the police are responsible than the Minister of Internal Security (who is in command of the police) is responsible. And in that case most likely, politics played a major role in the decision-making process.
Apart from attempts to put the blame anywhere but at one’s own footstep, in this case it is worthwhile to look at the victims. Haredim are a major part of the population that visits the ceremonies at Mt. Meron and most of the victims were Haredim.
Haredim, are (ultra-orthodox) religious Jews, split in many different factions that are kept separated very strictly by their leaders and where rivalry and conflicts between the various factions are rife. While most, if not all Haredim are anti-Zionist, some are vehemently anti-Israel and do not recognize the State as an entity or a source of authority. While all Haredim groups are managed very centrally, with one person (the Rebbe) having full control, some of the more extreme groups go much further than that, and the control over the member’s lives is very strict and tight, up to a point where, as Shlomo Guzmen-Carmeli of Bar Ilan University described in the Jerusalem Post, the members of the group do not see themselves as individuals anymore but look at their community as an “Organic Entity”. And this “entity” is of course fully controlled by the Rebbe.
Over the years, as it turns out, numerous reports have been written about the dangers of the ceremonies at Mt Meron, by the police, the State Comptroller and others, all warning that the area is not suitable for such a large number of people and that the rescue services, in case of an emergency would have serious problems reaching the site because of the small number of (narrow) access roads.
While the coming weeks and months will have to bring to light the extent to which these reports were ignored by the powers that be, in particular politicians, and how much pressure was exerted on the police to ignore the warning of these reports, the Haredi leaders, the Rebbe of each and every Haredi sect, the Haredi politicians should be investigated thoroughly why they, with the knowledge that they had, still allowed their people to go up the mountain and risk their lives every time.
The responsibility of the Haredi leaders for what has happened brings to the fore a broader issue, that Israel must finally face, the relation between the Haredim and the State. From the establishment of the State of Israel, the Haredi community has lived here as “a State within a State”, with its people not accepting authority from the State of Israel, their communities living completely isolated from daily life in Israel, with its own educational systems (assuring that no child will receive even the minimum required knowledge to make it on “the outside”) and their own kashrut authority. Exceptions are Social Security and other financial assistance supplied by the State which has been extensive, in particular since some Haredi communities, while remaining anti-zionist, did recognize the advantages of political power.
In the aftermath of the Meron disaster, the police were anxious not to reply to questions as to why the number of people on the mountain was not limited, for the very simple reason that they know that any restrictions placed on the Haredim would simply be ignored, unless their leaders would approve them, which the Rebbes definitely were not willing to do. And enforcing them would require violence that nobody is willing to authorize or agree to.
The tolerance of the isolationist behavior of the Haredim has its roots in a very simple sentence: “We Are All Jews”. The understanding that every Jew who wants to live in the Jewish State should be allowed to do so has historical and religious reasons and is in many ways justifiable and right. And even with Jews opposing the State, or its ideals, it has been argued that they have every right to be here and the State will have to respect that. But it is time that some limitations are placed on this right. Limitations that will guarantee that the State is the Authority, that there are laws and regulations that cannot be ignored or violated and that living in the State of Israel, beside rights, also has obligations. (Army service is only one of them).
Israel needs to take the opportunity, that as one of the lessons to be learned from the Meron disaster, the “Reset” button of Haredim-State relations must be pushed and new rules set for all to abide by. While this is politically extremely sensitive, the lives of 45 people demand that things are being set straight and it be made clear to all that NOBODY is above the law.
Both Israel and in the end also the Haredim, will benefit from it.
I hope you found this article interesting and I welcome any comments you may have.
If you register on the site, you will be receiving a notice when new articles are posted.
