From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, March 6, 2024
Netanyahu would go to jail over Meron if he weren’t PM, Lapid says
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
If Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains in office, “the next disaster is only a matter of time,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid declares after a state commission of inquiry finds the prime minister personally responsible for the April 2021 Mount Meron disaster, in which 45 people were killed in a crush at the hilltop gravesite of a second-century sage in northern Israel despite numerous safety warnings ahead of time.
“The report published today shows that the disaster could have been prevented. The writing was on the wall. It indicates criminal negligence, arrogance and disconnection, it indicates complete irresponsibility,” Lapid tells reporters. “If Netanyahu were an ordinary citizen, he would stand trial today for causing death by negligence and go to prison.”
“Out of respect for the victims of Mount Meron, to prevent his next disaster, he should go home,” says Lapid, who has also repeatedly called for Netanyahu’s ouster following the October 7 massacre. The report “leaves no room for doubt” as to the prime minister’s personal responsibility, he adds.
“What happened in Meron is neither an accident nor a fault, it is a pattern of neglect, of negligence, of dangerous national irresponsibility,” he tells reporters.
Although the report found that there was “a reasonable basis to conclude that Netanyahu knew that the site of Rashbi’s grave was improperly dealt with for years, and that it was liable to be a danger to the masses that visit the site,” it declined to recommend any sanction for Netanyahu.
War cabinet minister Benny Gantz welcomes the findings of the commission, calling it “a life-saving report that should be studied in all government ministries and emergency bodies” — but declines to call for Netanyahu’s resignation.
Like Lapid, several lawmakers draw a line between Netanyahu’s alleged negligence around Meron and the failures in the leadup to the October 7 massacre, for which Netanyahu has refused to take responsibility.
“There is a direct line from the Carmel disaster, the Meron disaster, and the failure of October 7 — the prime minister and his cabinet’s avoidance of responsibility for managing the affairs of the state,” Yesh Atid MK Mickey Levi says. “Somehow they always don’t know, don’t hear, don’t see.”
Just as the prime minister was “responsible for the Meron disaster, he is also responsible for the October 7 disaster” and cannot continue to avoid responsibility, Yisrael Beytenu MK Yulia Malinovsky tweets.
