glasses from Meron victims
glasses from Meron victimsPolice spokesperson

The Jewish Agency announced that it would provide assistance to 17 widows who lost their husbands in the Meron disaster, four months after the tragedy in which 45 people were crushed to death while celebrating Lag B'Omer.

The assistance was made possible thanks to a special donation raised through Keren Hayesod (United Israel Appeal). The special grant seeks to make it a little easier for the widows and orphans of the disaster to celebrate Rosh Hashanah and the rest of the High Holidays properly without financial worries and to express the identification and support of the Jewish communities with the families of the victims.

The chairman of the World Zionist Organization and acting chairman of the Jewish Agency, Yaakov Hagoel, said that "this is the second round of grants given to the families of those killed in Meron. Emergency assistance totaling thousands of shekels was given to each of the families in Israel and abroad immediately following the event, thanks to the rapid mobilization of communities and donors from around the world."

Keren Hayesod World Chairman Sam Grundwerg added, "All over the world, Keren Hayesod donors feel the need to support Israeli society all the time, and especially in times of crisis. In their contribution to families who have lost their whole world in one evening, they seek to help and alleviate even the slightest difficulty and the hard period they are going through."