Apr 30, 2021 - World
Biden calls Netanyahu to offer condolences over Mount Meron stampede
- Barak Ravid, author of Axios from Tel Aviv
Police and worshippers at the site of the stampede. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance via Getty
President Biden called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday to offer condolences and U.S. assistance following a deadly stampede that killed at least 45 worshippers, the White House said.
Driving the news: The stampede occurred on Thursday night as tens of thousands of mainly ultra-Orthodox Jews were participating in a celebration of the Lag B’Omer holiday at Mount Meron, a pilgrimage site in northern Israel. Several of those killed were American citizens.
- "The people of the United States and Israel are bound together by our families, our faiths, and our histories, and we will stand with our friends. Our prayers are with those who were injured and all those who lost loved ones. May their memories be a blessing," Biden said in a statement.
- Secretary of State Tony Blinken also spoke with his Israeli counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi, who promised that Israel would help all U.S. citizens affected by the disaster.