After intense back-and-forth behind closed doors, officials reached a decision overnight to move forward with the Lag B’Omer celebrations in Meron under a tightly controlled framework, after Israel’s Home Front Command agreed to take full responsibility for the event’s safety.
Maj. Gen. Shai Klapper, head of the Home Front Command, committed to overseeing the implementation of a revised plan, assuring that all police recommendations would be followed. In response, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir withdrew his earlier opposition, clearing the way for the event to proceed.
The development came after a tense security assessment held Wednesday night at the Meron site, where Ben Gvir voiced strong objections to the plan prepared by the Jerusalem Ministry and approved by the Home Front Command. He warned that the proposal raised serious concerns regarding potential danger to participants.
Following those remarks, Ben Gvir and Police Commissioner Danny Levy held a late-night conversation with Klapper, during which the Home Front Command chief pledged to enforce strict limits on attendance and maintain order throughout the event, while accepting full responsibility for its execution.
Under the updated guidelines, attendance at any given time will be capped at 1,500 participants, with ongoing evaluations conducted throughout the celebration to monitor conditions on the ground.
Earlier in the evening, Ben Gvir sharply criticized the plan, stating that the Home Front Command had effectively abandoned a workable solution and describing the situation as a “red flag” that warranted halting the event entirely.
“I am raising a red flag,” he said, emphasizing that he would not support a gathering where safety could not be assured. “The blood of all those coming to Meron is not hefker. We cannot move forward blindly toward another tragedy.”
He insisted that responsibility rests with the Home Front Command to produce a clear and practical plan that guarantees the safety of the crowds, warning that without such assurances, police would be unable to properly secure the mispallelim.
Police officials also presented a stark assessment, cautioning that opening Meron to large crowds—potentially numbering in the tens of thousands—would make it impossible to ensure adequate protection, particularly in the event of a missile attack, rachmana litzlan. Participants in the discussions noted that in such a scenario, real-time evacuation would be extremely difficult, if not unmanageable.
