Ex-Security Chief Bombshell Testimony: ‘Chareidi Leaders Begged Not To Restrict Meron Events’

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Former Israeli Public Security Minister Amir Ohana testified Tuesday before the committee investigating the Meron tragedy which has renewed its hearings with Judge Dvora Berliner replacing the deceased head of the committee Miriam Naor.

Ohana said that “we were after a difficult year for the country, a year of battling coronavirus and a year in which police were forced to use enforcement against ordinary citizens and not criminals and terrorists as usual.

“During this year the cabinet decisions reached police without prior warning and without the public comprehending these decisions. During the same period there were significant security tensions, especially in the Jerusalem region.”

Ohana was asked about the preparations for Meron and said that “my involvement grew as we came closer to the event. In April there were many police meetings with leaders of the chareidi community. When I entered my position I noted that there was tension and a sense of detachment between police and chareidim and I therefore appointed Arik Yakuel to arbitrate between the sides. We needed communication because of coronavirus and because of their communal needs.”

Ohana added that “I remember that the Belzer Rebbe wrote an article in which he stressed the concept of spiritual Pikuach Nefesh (life-threatening situations) as well as physical Pikuach Nefesh. The decisions were taken out of a sense of consideration for the chareidi public and in accordance with the situation on the ground.”

Ohana was asked by committee member Motele Karelitz if there was a specific training for police responsible for the Meron events. He answered that “the police has tens of years of experience in handling such events and police at the scene receive training and guidance from their commanding officers.”

When committee member Shlomo Yanai told Ohana that police had complained that they had no training in dealing with a large crow and had not participated in mass casualty drills, Ohana responded that “nobody told me about this and I think that from a professional point of view the commanders and officers are responsible.”

Ohana said that police said they know how to deal with large events but do not know how to take decisions who will be allowed to enter and who will be prevented. He added that chareidi leaders had begged not to use coronavirus to restrict the number of celebrators, since at that point coronavirus infections had diminished and there were vaccinations available. Moreover during Ramadan tens of thousands entered Temple Mount and thousands demonstrated against the government so the chareidim said they could not tell their community to restrict Meron festivities. “Nobody spoke about the possibility of a tragedy it was all about coronavirus,” he added.

Ohana himself said that he was more concerned about the tribunes where huge numbers of people dance together than about the exits to the site.

Stressing what he had said after the tragedy, that he takes responsibility upon himself but not guilt, Ohana said that he had known the crowded situation on Meron and therefore police had 5000 ushers to maintain order at the site. He felt that police had prepared adequately for the event. However he blamed the attorney-general for stifling attempts by the state to enlarge the site in order to maintain better safety procedures.