Lapid: Netanyahu is responsible for Meron deaths, should step down

The committee of investigation into the 2021 Meron tragedy was a ‘political tool’ in the hands of former prime ministers Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett, the Likud on Wednesday charged. The committee concluded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Knesset Speaker MK Amir Ohana, who was Public Security Minister at the time, were personally responsible for the tragedy.

For nearly three years, the committee investigated the crush that killed 45 men and boys and injured over 100 others during the annual Lag Ba’omer celebrations at Mount Meron on April 30, 2021. The government, at the time, did not immediately open a committee of investigation, but the Bennett-Lapid government, sworn in on June 13 of that year, decided to establish the committee the following week.

The committee published interim findings ahead of Lag Ba’omer 2022, and in August that year sent 18 “warning letters” to officials who could be affected by the committee’s conclusions, including  Netanyahu and Ohana.

“The Meron disaster was tragic, our hearts are with the families of the victims. In practice, the government has already implemented the required conclusions, and the last event at Meron was held with a large crowd and without fault. The government will examine the need to implement additional operational lessons to prevent a repetition of a disaster such as this,” the Likud stated.

“However, it is unfortunate that for the first time in history, the government led by Bennett and Lapid formed a committee of investigation against its predecessor in the political Right, and in which a central member was a confidante of Lapid, Shlomo Yanai, who received an offer for a spot in the Yesh Atid Knesset list. This is a completely distinct political provocation.”

“Lapid’s cynical and intentional attempt to turn the Meron disaster into a political tool will not succeed,” the Likud concluded.

Lapid responded: “Netanyahu and the Likud’s response is an embarrassing disgrace and a desecration of the Meron victims’ memory. The attempt to discredit Maj.-Gen. Yannai, a recipient of a Medal of Distinguished Service, and [committee member] Rabbi Mordechai Karelitz, former mayor of Bnei Brak, as if their considerations were political, only proves how low Netanyahu has stooped in his attempts to evade responsibility for a disaster for which a national commission of inquiry determined emphatically that he was guilty.”

Response from officials and organization 

Earlier on Wednesday and soon after the report was published, Lapid said, “If Netanyahu was a regular citizen, he would be indicted today for causing death by negligence and would be sent to jail. His excuses and explanations in the committee were a pathetic show of cowardice and evasion of responsibility.” Lapid  added that if Netanyahu remains in power, “the next disaster is just a matter of time.”

“Netanyahu is not competent. He should have resigned the day after the tragedy. That is what every other head of state would have done. Now this report comes and says it all. Out of respect for the victims of the Meron (tragedy), he should go home,” Lapid said.

Ohana issued a response of his own to the report.

“Since the Meron disaster, I carry with me the sorrow of the families, those who I consoled during the days of mourning and those who I did not, for the loss of their loved ones. At this hour, my thoughts are with them.

“The committee’s conclusions are not a closing of a circle, but the opening of the most important chapter – fixing the situation so that such a disaster will not happen again. Not in Meron and not anywhere else in Israel, he said.

“As the report described, this was a years-long failure to regulate the events and infrastructure at the site, but the disaster happened under my watch as Public Security Minister and therefore I bear responsibility. I will study the report and act to the best of my ability to learn from it the necessary lessons,” Ohana said.

National Unity chairman MK Benny Gantz, who joined the government after October 7, also responded to the report, without mentioning Netanyahu by name.

“The report by the national committee of investigation of the Meron tragedy is first and foremost a life-saving report that must be studied by all government ministries and emergency responders. The 45 believers who came to fulfill a commandment, we cannot return to their families, but we can prevent such difficult disasters in the future. My heart today is with the families of the victims,” Gantz wrote on X.

The Labor Party issued a motion of no-confidence in the government.

“The State Commission of Inquiry regarding the disaster at Mount Meron placed personal, direct, and clear responsibility on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stating that he knew about the danger, ignored the many warnings that were sent to him, and did not oversee the implementation of the government’s decisions on the matter.

“This is a government that is dangerous for the State of Israel, that does not know how to take responsibility, neither for the Mount Meron disaster nor for the October 7 disaster. This government must be replaced now,” the party said.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel (MQG) said in a statement that it welcomed the committee’s work, and that “the conclusions and the personal responsibility imposed on many senior government officials and the police illustrate the seriousness of the failures and negligence that led to this terrible tragedy.”

“At the same time, the Movement again criticizes the committee’s decision not to recommend disciplinary or other measures against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several other senior figures. According to the Movement, this unwillingness weakens the committee’s ability to achieve its main goal – preventing the recurrence of similar disasters in the future,” the MQG said.

“The decision to refrain from making recommendations regarding the elected officials diminishes the concept of responsibility and the ability to demand accountability. This is a serious omission that diminishes the impact of some of the report’s most important conclusions,” MQG added.

“The Movement calls on the government to act with more determination to implement all of the committee’s recommendations without bias and to take all necessary steps to ensure that such a disaster does not occur again. Only full implementation of the required reforms, along with a change in the culture of oversight and enforcement in Israel, will ensure proper protection of civilian lives,” MQG concluded.