Following the loss of life during the levaya at HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Halevy Wosner ZT”L as people were trampled to death, it appears Yassam commando police are being brought in as part of the security detail at the tziyun of Rashbi on Lag B’Omer. This is one of the lessons learned from the police probe into the levaya of the gadol hador.

The commando force will be placed in and around the tziyun to prevent pushing and shoving as the specially trained police personnel will only permit a limited number of people inside simultaneously. The mispallalim will only be permitted to remain inside for a short period of time.

The original plan was to place police at the entrance and exit as police did not wish to place police inside. However, after subsequent discussions police have decided not to rely on civilian personnel to manage the crowd inside, preferring to install cameras and strategically positioned police look-outs that will continue feeding real-time information to the Israel Police frontal command center. This will provide sufficient data to the decision-makers in the command center to order Yassam forces inside the tziyun if and when necessary.

Mispallalim will be limited in number inside the tziyun and additional mispallalim will not be permitted to enter until those inside exit.

The same arrangement will be in place in the ezras noshim too but this year, unlike in past years, only female police personnel will be deployed in the ezras noshim area, not men.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)