Ultra-Orthodox party leader backs official state inquiry into Meron disaster - He asked Netanyahu to have the government begin advancing a proposal to establish a state commission that will investigate the disaster and “make recommendations that will allow for the regulation of the site in terms of halacha [Jewish law], engineering and safety.”
In reversal, Netanyahu ally Moshe Gafni tells PM the formation of a commission is the ‘correct way’ to proceed; Yesh Atid will seek to fast-track bill to establish committee
The head of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party on Wednesday threw his backing behind the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the deadly crush at a religious festival last month that killed 45 people, including many children.
No arrests have been made since the April 30 tragedy, the deadliest civilian disaster in Israel’s history, which is being investigated by the Israel Police.
UTJ MK Moshe Gafni chairs the Knesset Finance Committee, which held a session Tuesday on the disaster during Lag B’Omer celebrations at Mount Meron in northern Israel. In a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he said the parliamentary committee agreed the “correct way” to proceed is to form an official commission of inquiry, which would be led by a Supreme Court justice.
Gafni also said he would chair further committee meetings on the matter “so we can offer solutions for the future so a case like this will not happen again.”
He asked Netanyahu to have the government begin advancing a proposal to establish a state commission that will investigate the disaster and “make recommendations that will allow for the regulation of the site in terms of halacha [Jewish law], engineering and safety.”
It was unclear if Netanyahu would allow a proposal to form a commission come before the government for approval. While the premier has said he backs a thorough investigation, he has not taken up calls to back an official state commission of inquiry.
Wednesday’s letter appeared to mark a reversal for Gafni, whose party is part of Netanyahu’s right-wing religious bloc. Gafni suggested during Tuesday’s meeting that a committee led by the chief rabbi be formed to address the problems at Meron, drawing some ridicule.
Also Wednesday, the centrist Yesh Atid party — which is seeking to replace Netanyahu as prime minister following the March elections — said it would seek to fast-track a bill to form a state commission to investigate the disaster during a vote next week, suggesting possible cross-bloc support.
Earlier this month, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced that a joint investigative team from the Israel Police and the Justice Ministry’s Police Internal Investigations Department will lead a probe into the deadly incident.
Police and the PIID had already launched independent probes. State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman has also announced that he will investigate.
There have been increasing demands for a state commission of inquiry into the tragedy, with the focus directed at the organization of the annual Lag B’Omer events at Mount Meron.
The disaster, which began around 1 a.m. on April 30 near the gravesite of the second-century sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, took place when huge crowds of ultra-Orthodox pilgrims were making their way along a narrow walkway with a slippery metal flooring that ended in flights of stairs. People began to slip and fall, others fell upon them, and a calamitous crush ensued.
The site, the second-most visited religious site in Israel after the Western Wall, has become an extraterritorial zone of sorts, with separate ultra-Orthodox sects organizing their own events and their own access arrangements, with no overall supervision and with police routinely pressured by cabinet ministers and ultra-Orthodox politicians not to object.
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| Nobel Putz Awardee ----- MK Moshe Gafni at a conference in Jerusalem |
Former police officials have said there had been fears for years that tragedy could strike as a result of the massive crowds and lack of supervision on Lag B’Omer.
Multiple reports in Hebrew media outlets indicated that there had been immense pressure by religious lawmakers ahead of the festivities to ensure that there would be no limits placed on the number of attendees due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some 100,000 mostly ultra-Orthodox pilgrims ultimately attended the event. A framework drawn up by the Health Ministry, in consultation with other government officials, police and others, would have limited the event to 9,000 participants but was not implemented.
In another incident on Sunday, two people were killed and 167 injured, including five seriously, when a bleacher collapsed under celebrants in a Givat Ze’ev synagogue just before the start of the Shavuot festival on Sunday evening.
3 comments:
"He asked Netanyahu to have the government begin advancing a proposal to establish a state commission that will investigate the disaster and “make recommendations that will allow for the regulation of the site in terms of halacha [Jewish law], engineering and safety."
Are engineering and safety compatible with halacha?
The halachic poskim in Givat Ze'ev apparently do not think so.
The Ramapo poskim (and those in Lakewood) seem to be quite content to have safety and engineering take a back seat to halacha when it comes to illegal apartments.
Park Ave Synagogue
https://commercialobserver.com/2021/04/missing-lawyer-mitch-kossoff-forged-mothers-signature-on-loan-docs-suit-claims/
You can run from your clients, but you can’t hide from your mom - or UOJ.
Missing real estate lawyer Mitchell Kossoff — who’s facing a slew of lawsuits for running off with client’s escrow accounts — forged his mother’s signature on more than $2 million of defaulted loans, according to a lawsuit filed by his mother.
Phyllis Kossoff claimed her son fabricated her signature on 3 notarized, merchant cash advance agreements, despite the elder Kossoff never signing the documents or meeting the notary, The Real Deal reported.
“I'm 94 years old & have been the victim of a terrible fraud,” Phyllis Kossoff wrote in an affidavit filed in NY Supreme Court.
And, despite Mitch Kossoff ghosting his clients & colleagues for weeks, he actually reached out to his mom to let her know about the bogus signatures.
“I didn't learn of the fraud until last week when my son told me there are documents which had my signature but which I hadn't signed,” Phyllis Kossoff wrote.
Phyllis Kossoff — owner of Burton Packaging & active philanthropist, particularly for cystic fibrosis research — submitted the affidavit to get out of a $3.6 million default notice filed by Capital Stack earlier this month.
Capital Stack & Phyllis Kossoff’s lawyer didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Mitch Kossoff couldn't be reached.
Mitch Kossoff took out $2.6 million in merchant cash advance, essentially payday loans for small businesses that don’t have the capital or credit to secure traditional loans, from Capital Stack with an agreement to pay back $3.7 million, according to court records.
Both Kossoff and his mother signedhe agreements, court records show. However, Kossoff defaulted on the loans and Capital Stack filed two confessions of judgments against the pair.
The Capital Stack suit is just the tip of the iceberg for Kossoff’s legal troubles since he reportedly disappeared.
Kossoff was hit with lawsuits from art dealer Heiner Friedrich, SSM Realty & 537 Assoc over $2 million in missing escrow funds. He also had 2 confessions of judgments from other merchant cash advance companies filed after he defaulted on a combined $730,000.
The Manhattan DA launched an investigation into Kossoff, who owns an eponymous law firm, to see if he misused client funds. A judge froze his mostly empty bank accounts, while a group of landlords started a push to force Kossoff into bankruptcy over missing escrows.
The workers union at the Israel Electric Corp announced today that employees will not repair power lines to Gaza until the Strip’s ruling Hamas terror group returns a civilian & the bodies of 2 IDF soldiers it's holding in the Palestinian enclave.
IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin & Oron Shaul were killed in the 2014 war with Hamas, while civilian Avera Mengistu was captured after he entered Gaza of his own accord the same year. Mengistu suffers from mental health issues.
The union statement made no mention of Hisham al-Sayed, a 2nd civilian who entered the Strip in 2015.
Company management issued a statement in response, saying IEC's a “govt company, subject to provisions of law & we believe electricity's an essential product outside conflict.”
The company added it “hopes the boys are brought home.”
Israeli officials said Hamas rockets fired at Israel damaged power lines, cutting off 100,000s of Gazans from electricity.
Yesterday, several 100s people gathered outside the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem to demand return of the missing soldiers & civilians as condition for any ceasefire with Hamas
Prominent Israeli musicians led the rally, including Idan Amedi, Shlomi Shabbat, Miri Mesika & Zehava Ben.
Last week, a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Gaza was down to just 5 hours of electricity a day, after having 16 hours a day before fighting began.
Lack of electricity's partially due to Israel’s closure of Kerem Shalom Crossing, thru which Gaza receives most of its fuel, some of which is used for the Strip’s power station.
5 of 10 power lines supplying Gaza have been damaged.
Israel has worked to secure release of the civilians & soldiers’ bodies, often with the Egyptian military as intermediary.
Hamas seeks in exchange the release of Palestinian security prisoners in Israeli jails — members of Hamas & of other terror groups. Some of the prisoners had already been freed during the 2011 prisoner exchange, but were re-arrested during a 2014 crackdown on terrorists following the abduction & murder of 3 Israeli boys.
Though Israeli officials acknowledge talks are ongoing for the release of Israeli captives held by Hamas, they refrain discussing specific proposals & offers made in negotiations
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