Meron Commission Starts Work

The state commission of inquiry into the Meron disaster went to work on Sunday, as it requisitioned all documents related to the planning of the event from the attorney general’s office, The Times of Israel reported.

Former chief justice Miriam Naor, who was appointed to head the panel of three, ordered Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit to provide the materials within 30 days, along with internal government reports on the tragedy that took 45 lives last Lag BaOmer.

Similarly, Naor said she will be obtaining documents from the National Center for the Development of Holy Places, Meron HaGalil Regional Council, and the committee that administers Kever Rabbi Shimon.

Naor also plans to meet with Mandelblit to discuss how to avoid conflicts, legal and otherwise, with parallel probes already under way by the police and the state comptroller.

The commission will have a budget of 6 million shekels ($1.83 million), and will investigate the causes of the disaster and how to ensure public safety at Meron in the future.

The three-member commission also consists of former Bnei Brak mayor Rabbi Mordechai Karelitz and former IDF planning chief Maj. Gen. (res.) Shlomo Yanai. They were appointed by current Chief Justice Esther Hayut.

It is expected that the commission’s work will take 1-2 years.