Versailles wedding hall after floor collapsed
Photo: Gali Tibon
Dangerous building in Tel Aviv
Numerous dangerous buildings in Israel
State, local councils have hardly dealt with issue 4.5 years after Versailles disaster, in which 23 people lost their lives
Four and a half years have passed since the Versailles wedding hall tragedy, in which 23 people were killed after the Jerusalem hall's floor collapsed during a wedding, and it seems that the horrifying sight has almost been forgotten.
The Zeiler Commission, which was established in order to investigate the disaster's circumstances, published a series of recommendations and stated that "Another Versailles disaster is just a matter of time."
However, not much has been done since then, and thousands of dangerous structures still exist throughout the country.
The ritual of establishing a state investigation committee immediately after events considered as disasters or national failures, is apparently an initial "pain killer" for collective panic.
The authorities do not hasten to provide a real solution, and the facts speak for themselves – approximately 2,000 constructions built in the Pal-Kal technique (the same technique used to construct the Versailles hall) exist and are populated in israel, and none of them has been dealt with since the disaster.
The Versailles disaster occurred on May 2001, and on December 2003 the commission headed by Judge Vardi Zeiler submitted its conclusions. The government then appointed a committee to implement the Zeiler Commission conclusions. And what has happened since then?
'Very little has been done'
Yoav Sarne, chairman of the Israeli Association of Civil and Structural Engineers, says that "Almost two years have passed and not one instruction has been issued to deal with the problem."
Paul Vital, chairman of the City Engineers Union, adds that "There were conclusions on the use of Pal-Kal, but if you investigate a little you will discover that very little has been done to deal with the issue."
What are they waiting for? Maybe for another committee.
Vital says that no one can guarantee that the Versailles disaster will not repeat itself.
"One of the problems with Pal-Kal is that there are a few kinds and one cannot know what is built from an improved Pal-Kal and what isn’t," he said.
"In the case of Versailles, there was a chain of accumulating malfunctions, which included changes in the building's foundation. The floor was not built in the first place for a mass of people performing a dynamic activity (dancing) and the building was not even designated to serve as a wedding hall," he added.
Attorney Aviad Shuv, specializing in real estate law, said that the Knesset has not passed any laws on the issue.
"The commission stated that building with Pal-Kal is dangerous and left the rest for the city engineers. Only the municipal bylaws dealing with the issue were extended," he said.
"If these laws are not enforced, and in fact they cannot be enforced, then they are meaningless," he concluded.
