In anticipation of the Lag B’Omer event in Meron in several months, the largest transportation event in Israel, the Director General of the Transportation Ministry, Moshe Ben-Zaken, held an inaugural meeting on Sunday with the senior professional staff at the ministry, attended by Deputy Transporation Minister Uri Maklev, the Director General of the Ministry of Jerusalem and Heritage, and representatives of the Israel Police and Home Front Command.
The transportation operation for the Meron event on Lag B’Omer is the most significant transportation event in the State of Israel, concentrated over 40 hours across two days of the celebration. Lag BaOmer falls out this year on Thursday night and Friday, which requires more complex preparations due to the reduced hours of the celebration. Expanded public transportation activities will begin several days before the event and continue for several days afterward.
It is important to note that the preparations for Lag B’Omer this year are taking place amid heightened security tensions and the fragile ceasefire with Hezbollah in the north, and following a year that the event did not take place year due to Hezbollah’s constant rocket attacks.
Ben-Zaken said during the meeting that under the direction of Transportation Minister Miri Regev, a pilot program will be tested this year involving the use of Israel Railways throughout the celebration, which will include special feeder lines, along with connection options to destinations that have not previously received service to Meron, alongside an assessment currently underway for utilizing the upgraded airport in Haifa for transporting Meron visitors by air, combined with trains and shuttles from Haifa to Meron.
Two weeks ago, Israel’s newest airline, Air Haifa, the first commercial airline to be based in Haifa, began its operations from Haifa International Airport after infrastructure work at the site was completed
The airline initially began operations at the end of September but operated out of Ben Gurion Airport due to the war.
Maklev stated: “There is no doubt that this year more people will come to Meron. We already saw this on ‘Zos Chanukah’ [when many people came to Meron to daven]. We need to prepare accordingly, especially because in recent years there have been difficulties in reaching Meron. This year, everyone will be able to come, B’ezrat Hashem. The challenge is that this year Lag BaOmer falls out on a Friday. We will place great emphasis on a massive boost to Israel Railways. We have already seen in recent years that this works in alleviating the pressure on public transportation.”
Ben-Zaken said: “The Transporation Ministry is responsible for the entire transportation framework of the Rashbi celebration. The professional levels in the ministry work day and night to ensure the event is successful. The team here is already living Lag BaOmer. Transportation Minister Regev sees the success of the celebration as a personal mission and has instructed us to prepare for all scenarios in light of this year’s challenges, due to the reduced hours of the celebration, alongside a special emphasis on using Israel Railways, which will lead to reduced congestion and faster, more efficient, and safe travel.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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One Response
I don’t know about Israel. But if anyone tried flying from Chicago to NYC during the day knows that between transportation to and from the airport plus waiting for the plane to arrive and depart takes almost the same amount of time as driving.