Police have informed the Justice Ministry that they are now able to renew the criminal investigation into suspects involved in the 2021 Mount Meron disaster, in which 45 people were killed during Lag BaOmer celebrations, after materials collected by a state commission of inquiry were released for law enforcement use.
The investigation had been frozen while the state commission was at work. Its files were transferred to the State Archives upon completion and sealed for 50 years under standard procedure. Following consultations with the attorney general’s office, a court order was recently issued allowing the materials to be transferred to police.
The move clears the way for a decision by a team led by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on whether and how to renew the criminal probe, including its scope and potential suspects.
Last week, it was reported that Menachem Finkelstein, the retired judge who serves as complaints commissioner for state prosecutors, sharply criticized the attorney general for delays in deciding whether to resume the investigation. He described the handling of the matter as “foot-dragging” and warned that further delays could lead to statutes of limitation expiring and evidence becoming inadmissible.
“The disaster requires decisive treatment,” Finkelstein said, urging an expedited decision to avoid what he described as prolonged injustice to the victims’ families.
After the state commission of inquiry was established, then-Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit ordered a halt to criminal investigations related to the disaster. When the commission concluded its work in March 2024, it recommended that the attorney general examine whether to renew the police investigation.
Baharav-Miara has said that the commission’s findings are still being reviewed and that a broad prosecutorial team is handling the matter. Finkelstein, however, said the time elapsed since the commission’s report requires “real acceleration” of the process.
He noted that police and prosecutors have yet to review significant materials submitted to the commission, calling them essential to any criminal investigation. “At this stage, even a decision on whether to open criminal proceedings does not appear to be forthcoming,” he said, calling the situation unacceptable for the victims and families waiting years for accountability.
The state commission assigned personal responsibility to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, though without recommending operational steps. It also assigned personal responsibility to Amir Ohana, now speaker of parliament and at the time public security minister, and recommended barring him from returning to the post. Former police chief Kobi Shabtai was also found personally responsible, with a recommendation that he be removed from office. Amid the war, that step was not taken, and Shabtai ended his term in July last year.