Probe says Israel PM Netanyahu bears 'responsibility' for deadly 2021 stampede
JERUSALEM (AFP) - A probe into Israel's worst civilian disaster on Wednesday found Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 'bears personal responsibility' for the 2021 stampede which killed 45 Jewish pilgrims.
Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews had converged on Mount Meron, near Israel's border with Lebanon, on April 30, 2021 for an annual pilgrimage to the tomb of a reputed second-century rabbi.
The stampede in the male section of the gender-segregated crowd is believed to have started as people moved through a narrow passageway that became a deadly choke-point. At least 16 children and teenagers were among the 45 dead.
"The prime minister is responsible for identifying proactively, by himself or through mechanisms on his behalf, issues that require the attention of his office and, if necessary, his intervention, in particular those related to a risk of human lives," said the commission of inquiry report into the stampede.
The inquiry found that from 2008 up to the day of the tragedy, the prime minister's office was notified on several occasions of the potential hazards caused by high traffic around the tomb of rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, also known by the Hebrew acronym Rashbi.
Netanyahu was in power for 12 of those years.
"Netanyahu knew that the Rashbi's tomb site had been poorly cared for for years, and that this could create a risk for the multitudes of visitors to the place, especially in (the holiday of) Lag Ba'omer," the commission's report said.
"Netanyahu did not act as expected of a prime minister to correct this state of affairs," it said, without recommending any measures against him, citing the "unique" nature of his elected role. "The writing on the wall had been there for many years. The disaster could have been prevented and it was a duty to prevent it," the report added.
'Lack of governance'
Opposition leader Yair Lapid called on Netanyahu to resign, warning on X, formerly Twitter, that "the next disaster is only a matter of time". "If Netanyahu stays in his position, then we're just sitting here and waiting for the next disaster," Lapid said.
Personal responsibility was also attributed to parliament speaker Amir Ohana who served as minister overseeing the police at the time of the stampede. The inquiry commission recommended not to appoint him as public security minister again.
The commission also recommended that Israeli police chief Yaakov Shabtai be dismissed from his position. Former prime minister Naftali Bennett who replaced Netanyahu in June 2021 had made an electoral promise to set up the commission, opposed by predecessor Netanyahu who has since returned to power.
"We found a bad culture... of a lack of governance and rule of law, and an action pattern of procrastination and avoiding making decisions", the report concluded. "A reality of conduct adversely affected by political interests and ulterior motives."
The report's findings echo criticisms in Israeli media against Netanyahu and his government for not anticipating the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. On that day, Hamas gunmen stormed across the border from Gaza into Israel and carried out the deadliest attack since the country was created in 1948.
The attack resulted in the death of around 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. In retaliation, Israel announced it would destroy Hamas and began its heaviest-ever bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
Since then at least 30,717 people, mainly women and children, have been martyred in the Palestinian territory, according to the health ministry there, which does not specify the number of killed Hamas militants.
