MK Meir Porush (United Torah Judaism) announced Monday in a personal column published in Hamvaser that he will not attend this year’s Lag Ba'omer celebration at Meron, despite being able to do so as a member of Knesset.
"Although I have the option, as someone who ‘enjoys’ parliamentary immunity, to go up to Meron-I do not feel it is appropriate to do so while you, my dear brothers, the people of Meron, cannot," he wrote.
Porush, who has led preparations for the event over the past three years, described the decision as "very painful," noting that since childhood he has rarely missed the gathering.
"Meron, throughout the year and especially on Lag Ba'omer, is truly part of my being-a feeling I am sure many Jerusalemites share," he wrote.
In the column, Porush revealed details behind the decision to cancel the traditional format of the event. According to him, a cabinet decision was made last Friday "to cancel the celebration."
Officials in the Jerusalem and Heritage Ministry attempted to formulate an interim plan approved by the Home Front Command, but Porush said that “certain elements within government authorities worked with all their might against this framework, creating obstacle after obstacle in order to prevent thousands of people from arriving at the event."
The result, he said, was a new decision by the Home Front Command to tighten restrictions to the point that the event can no longer take place.
Porush stopped short of openly criticizing the decisions but hinted at disagreement: "What I heard in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee discussions, I heard, and what I said in the discussion with the Prime Minister, I said. I was not partner to the decision that was later made and I am not at peace with it, and I will not expand further."
"What happened in 2024 cannot repeat itself. Professionals together with the police must formulate a more balanced framework that does not end in unacceptable scenes of violence and unrest."
Porush stepped down from the government last year on instructions from the Council of Torah Sages but continued to be involved in preparations for the Meron event as an MK.
In 2023 and 2025 he led the celebration "with great participation and splendor, with tens of thousands attending," as he described it.