The State filed its High Court of Justice brief on the State comptroller's recommendations following the Carmel Fire, in which it states that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes that Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz and Interior Minister Eli Yishai should be held personally accountable for the deadly disaster.
December 2010's fire, which raged for four days and nights, claimed 44 lives, forced the evacuation of nearly 17,000 people and consumed 8,650 acres of land and natural forest.
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The brief was filed by Zeev Even-Chen and Haim Klein, the father and father-in-law of IPS cadet Topaz Even-Chen-Klein, who was killed in the fire.
The petition demands that Netanyahu adhere to the State comptroller's recommendations to hold both ministers accountable for the disaster.
Netanyahu, the brief said, "Believes that the State comptroller's findings do not warrant the dismissal of the finance and interior ministers. Moreover, he does not believe that the findings warrant holding them personally responsible in any way.
The Carmel Fire (Photo: AFP)
"The prime minister further believes that accepting the State comptroller's recommendations as to the necessary upgrade of Israel's Fire and Rescue Services and subjecting them to the Public Security Ministry and not the Interior Ministry, is sufficient," the brief asserted.
The State argued that the report "Does not unequivocally demand that personal conclusion be drawn against any of the people named in the report."
The State further argues that the petitioners' arguments alleging that the "special responsibility" clause recommended by the comptroller should be treated as a "personal responsibility" clause – which bears various legal ramifications – should be rejected by the court:
"The comptroller himself refrained from stating that the minister should be held 'personally responsible,'" the brief said.
The brief said that if the State comptroller sought to order Yishai and Steinitz' dismissal, he would have done so in his report.
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