Investigating Meron

he decision to establish a state commission of inquiry to investigate the Mount Meron disaster – as approved on Sunday by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s nascent government – took too long but it is better late than never.

It should have been an obvious step for a country in the aftermath of the worst civilian disaster in its 73-year history. Unfortunately, even something so obvious got caught up in petty politics. Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to advance a state commission in order to protect his own ministers who were involved in the decision to approve the mass event, as well as his close allies from the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties who pushed for approval despite the well-known dangers and risks.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz submitted the proposal to the cabinet.

“A disaster that should have been avoided obligates us to learn systemic lessons at the national level,” Gantz said. “The 45 victims no committee can return, and the physical and mental scars of hundreds present at the scene we cannot hide, but we can prevent the next tragedy. We can prevent the pain of many families. Only a state committee of inquiry, which is not dependent on any political official, will be able to get to the truth, and I personally and the members of the entire government are committed to this.”

The deadly stampede took place at Meron on April 30, during the mass celebration of Lag Ba’omer night, when thousands of men exited a central plaza via a narrow metal walkway with a significant downward slope ending with a 90-degree bend and a flight of steps.

Men and boys found themselves compressed into this tiny space with more people filing into the walkway from the rear, unaware of what was happening further down and trapping those already inside.

Forty-five people were killed, and despite the tragic ramifications and scope, until now, no one has been arrested, no one has stepped down from their role and no one has taken responsibility. Some police commanders who approved the preparations for the site said they were responsible, but they then went ahead to clarify that responsibility did not mean guilt.

What held up the establishment of the state commission, though, was the presence of the United Torah Judaism and Shas parties in the last interim government. Even though the 45 people killed were almost exclusively haredim – meaning that they likely voted for the two haredi parties – neither UTJ nor Shas called for the establishment of a state commission. Their leaders – Shas chairman Arye Deri and UTJ chairman Ya’acov Litzman – preferred to hide behind the police and the state comptroller. Anything to evade responsibility.

In other words, it took a government without haredi parties to be able to do something that will benefit the haredi sector. It was haredim who were mostly killed that fateful night, and Meron is a holy site mostly visited on Lag Ba’Omer by haredim. The state commission is for all Israelis – to prevent additional disasters like this in the future – but is first and foremost the pursuit of justice for those who were killed and those widows and orphans who were left behind.

It is important that the state commission move fast to determine who was responsible for what happened at Meron in April, and to submit its findings and recommendations within the coming months so there will be time to prepare the site ahead of next Lag Ba’Omer, now 10 months away.

It is no secret that the shrine for Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai’s grave located at Meron is old, decrepit, makeshift and in no way fit for hundreds of thousands of people who flock to the site every Lag Ba’omer.

“The commission will not be able to bring those who were killed back to life, but the government can do everything to prevent an unnecessary loss of life in the future,” Bennett said at Sunday’s cabinet meeting.

And that is the true purpose of the state commission of inquiry. Politics need to be set aside and a genuine and thorough investigation needs to be conducted to ensure that events of this kind do not repeat themselves. Carelessness and negligence led to the disaster at Meron. It cannot be allowed to happen again.