In a statement from the White House, President Joe Biden said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to offer his condolences and said the United States stands with the people of Israel and with Jewish communities around the world.
“The loss of life among worshipers practicing their faith is heartbreaking,” Biden said. “I have instructed my team to offer our assistance to the government and people of Israel as they respond to the disaster and care for the wounded.”
Magen David Adom, Israel’s national ambulance, blood-services and disaster-relief organization, called on people to donate blood to help treat the victims of the disaster.
People were lining up across Israel on Friday afternoon to donate blood.
“I’m number three hundred and something, and I think they’re seeing number 100 now, so I have a long wait ahead,” a man waiting to donate blood at a Magen David Adom mobile unit in Tel Aviv told Channel 12 News.
According to Channel 12, Magen David Adom had planned to close the units in the early afternoon but decided to remain open as hundreds of residents waited in the sun to donate.
Local Arab villages set up stations to offer food and drink to evacuees from the site on Friday morning, according to the Times of Israel.
According to Yoseph Haddad, an Arab Israeli activist, said Arab Israelis set up refreshment stations in Tamra, even as they observe the Ramadan fast. He called the initiatives “touching solidarity in the midst of such tragedy.”
In the village off Zazir, journalist Sami Abed Alhamid tweeted images of similar refreshment stations.
“Our hearts go out to the families, out of responsibility, solidarity and out of a belief in human equality, a refreshment station and water for the evacuees from Mount Meron,” said Council Chairman Amir Mazarariv, Alhamid reported.
United Hatzalah, Israel’s national community-based volunteer EMS organization, was on the scene in Meron to help victims. They tweeted Friday morning that volunteers delivered food for Shabbat to other volunteers
There is a GoFundMe page seeking donations for Friends of United Hatzalah.
“This devastating event can not go unnoticed at a sacred spot where we have celebrated Jewish pride for thousands of years,” the organizer wrote. “Please join together in supporting the victims. ‘Charity and acts of kindness are equivalent to all the Mitzvahs of the Torah’ - Jerusalem Talmud, Pe’ah 1:1.”
About 100,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered on Friday at Mount Meron in northern Israel for the holiday Lag BaOmer, Newsweek reported. Crowds gathered to celebrate the second-century mystic Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and his tomb for all-night festivities of prayer, dancing and bonfires.
Israeli police are investigating the cause of the disaster.
Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabi Ashkenazi sent his condolences to the victims at Mount Meron.
“My heart aches over the severe disaster that took place tonight in Meron,” he said in a tweet. “I stand in support of the rescue forces that have been working throughout the night and are still working at the site, saving lives. Our hearts go out to the families. Blessed be the memory of those who perished. Swift recovery to the injured.”
