More than 200,000 people crowded Jerusalem’s streets on Thursday for a mass ultra-Orthodox rally against the military draft. Despite clear safety hazards and footage showing participants scaling rooftops, cranes and scaffolding, police deployed only about 2,000 officers and did not intervene to stop the dangerous climbing.
The tragedy struck when 20-year-old Menachem Mendel Litzman fell from the “Marom” Tower construction site — a building planned to be the tallest in Jerusalem. He was pronounced dead at the scene after falling from approximately the 11th floor.
Protesters climb cranes
Eyewitnesses told ynet that construction workers had begged young men to stay away from the building, but the massive crowd quickly overwhelmed them. “No police officer tried to stop us from going up,” one witness said, while another noted that officers saw people entering a construction elevator “and did nothing.”
Although police had anticipated a crowd of up to 300,000 people, they chose not to order the event dispersed. For comparison, 3,000 officers are typically assigned to secure the Jerusalem Pride Parade, which draws only about 10,000 participants.
After Litzman’s fall, police clashed with protesters as they tried to clear the area. Stones and bottles were thrown, and several people climbed onto a crane and refused to come down until firefighters were called in.
Only after the fatal incident did organizers use loudspeakers to urge participants to descend from high places, warning of “danger to life.” The rally ended without music as a sign of mourning.