[VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

In some area including Kiryat Belz and Har Nof in Yerushalayim, persons waited at bus stops for hours to head to Meron but the buses never arrived. This deals with people who purchased tickets in advance for a particular bus departing at a specific time but there was no bus.

In Har Nof, some explain they were waiting close to 17:00 in the hope of being at the Rashbi to be part of the Boyaner Rebbe’s Shlita lighting of the bonfire but the buses were 90-120 minutes late.

The transportation that appears to be this year’s Lag B’Omer story is not a one-time event, as similar failures have been seen over the years. Rarely if ever is anyone really held accountable. Elected officials including MKs Yisrael Eichler and Menachem Eliezer Moses have and will most likely demand state probes to determine who is to the blame, but this has been done in the past and nothing appears to have changed.

When disappointed travelers contacted Egged officials for an explanation, they were told traffic snarls are to blame. Many people who planned to travel north never made it and many were delayed hours trying to return home. Another Lag B’Omer in Israel that will be the topic of discussion in Knesset committee for weeks to come.

As one can see in the video in Meron, clearly there are many more people than available buses.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)