Police enforce road closures and warn of zero tolerance for violence following online incitement
Israel has canceled this year’s Lag B’Omer pilgrimage to Mount Meron in the Upper Galilee, according to a statement the Israel Police issued on Sunday.
“In accordance with [IDF] Home Front Command guidelines and a decision by the prime minister, and in light of the current security situation, the annual Lag B’Omer pilgrimage … will not take place this year,” the Police Spokesperson’s Unit said.
The site—home to the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (90-160 CE)—typically draws tens of thousands of worshippers for one of the largest annual religious gatherings in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier ordered that the celebrations on Mount Meron be held in a symbolic format only, in light of the Home Front Command’s policy limiting gatherings to up to 1,500 people.