[2] The Versailles Wedding Hall was built in 1986 in Talpiot in southeastern Jerusalem by engineer Eli Ron, who invented the Pal-Kal method.

Shortly before the collapse, hundreds of wedding guests were on the dance floor (with a cover by Sarit Hadad of the song “Lev Zahav” playing).

The third floor suddenly gave way, and hundreds of guests fell with the progressive collapse, through the two lower stories of the wedding hall.

An initial inquiry blamed the collapse on the Pal-Kal method of constructing light-weight coffered concrete floor systems which was banned shortly after the completion of the wedding hall since it was known and proven to be unsafe.

The effect of this error was somewhat mitigated by the construction of partitions on the floor below, which helped redistribute the excess load such that no damage was incurred.

The owners viewed the sagging floor primarily as a cosmetic problem, and attempted to level it with additional grout and fill.

However, their approach not only failed to provide additional structural capacity, it also inadvertently introduced a new and significant dead load at the weakened area.

The engineer Eli Ron, inventor of the Pal-Kal method of construction, was arrested and subsequently indicted in August 2002 on the charge of manslaughter.

Moreover, an official investigation committee was established by the then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon under the leadership of the former judge Vardimos Zeiler [he], who was in charge of the security of public places and buildings.

Captain Robert Nash describes the building having used the prohibited "Kal-Pal" technique and angrily attacks the owner for causing death by negligience.