Former PM to be asked by Meron commission about document of regulations related to the event that he did not sign.
- Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu will testify on Thursday before the State Commission of Inquiry into the Meron disaster.
Netanyahu, who preferred to prevent the establishment of the committee, will be the last witness to appear before it.
Kan 11 News on Wednesday revealed the document of regulations that was prepared for Netanyahu’s signature, which he ultimately did not sign, and how his close associates – Amir Ohana and Aryeh Deri, are the witnesses who may have gotten him into the most trouble.
According to the various testimonies heard by the committee, Netanyahu, due to political pressure from the haredi parties, decided that Mount Meron would be open to hundreds of thousands of people, despite the fact that at the time, the COVID-19 regulations prohibited gatherings of more than 100 people in an open area.
In order to allow for a larger gathering, Netanyahu was supposed to sign regulations providing an exemption for the Meron celebration, but did not bother to convene the Coronavirus Cabinet or sign the regulations.
In the end, the celebration took place without regulations or a government decision that exempts it from the restrictions on gatherings.
- Legal officials argued that holding the celebration in violation of the COVID-19 regulations – and its circumstantial connection to the disaster – could be attributed to Netanyahu – to the point of criminal responsibility for the tragedy that resulted in 45 deaths.
The Likud stated, “This is fake news, deliberate deception and manipulation of public opinion. The regulations you presented were not validated by a Coronavirus Cabinet decision, were not approved by the Attorney General and, as such, were never brought to Netanyahu’s signature.”
Source: Arutz Sheva