• A state commission warns former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a senior police official.
• They are being held responsible for an accident that killed 45 people last year.
• The warning comes just two months before a November election.

A state commission of inquiry into one of Israel’s worst civil disasters warned former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a senior police official that they could be held responsible for an accident that killed 45 people.

The committee looked into the circumstances surrounding last year’s disaster, in which thousands of pilgrims at a religious festival in northern Israel caused a deadly stampede and crush in a narrow passageway.

In addition to the 45 killed, at least 100 people were injured at the festival, which was attended by an estimated 100,000 worshippers on the slopes of Mount Meron.

The letter to Netanyahu, the leader of Israel’s right-wing opposition Likud party, stated that he “did not act as expected of a prime minister” in addressing long-standing safety concerns at the site, despite the fact that “he knew or should have known” about them.

Those named by the commission are given the opportunity to respond, and a warning letter does not always imply that action will be taken against them.

The warning came just two months before a November election in which Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, could run for a sixth term.

Netanyahu’s Likud party expressed sympathy for families who had lost loved ones in the disaster but accused Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s government of “political timing” in releasing the letter during the election campaign.

Prior to last year’s disaster, there had been years of concern about the annual event, which was held at the tomb of a 2nd-century Jewish sage in Galilee.

According to the letter, the poor condition of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai’s tomb had been criticized by the State Comptroller’s office and brought before Cabinet on several occasions, but no action had been taken.

In addition to Netanyahu and a number of former ministers and officials, the commission singled out Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai for allowing the festival to take place despite being aware of the dangers at the site.

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