Meron Disaster Commission finds Netanyahu, police, and officials responsible for catastrophe – By Michael Starr (Jerusalem Post) / March 6, 2024
The interim report advised the appointment of a minister in charge of the celebrations and recommended that infrastructure be improved at the site to remove safety hazards.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel Police commanders, and local officials were personally responsible for the 2021 Mount Meron crowd crush that claimed the lives of 45 people, according to the Mount Meron Disaster Commission’s final report, submitted to the government at noon on Wednesday.
The report detailed how negligence, lack of preparation, absent governance, no enforcement of construction law, and conflict over responsibilities, authority, and land ownership by politicians, civil servants, and law enforcement led to dangerous overcrowding and hazardous and illegal facility conditions, year after year, during the pilgrimage to the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai Tomb for Lag Ba’omer.
While the potential for disaster was known by the involved authorities – they even feared such an event – they did not seize the opportunity to improve conditions, the commission said.
CONTINUE > https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-790433
