Probe says Israel PM Netanyahu bears 'responsibility' for deadly 2021 stampede

Israel's worst civilian disaster probe finds Prime Minister Netanyahu responsible for stampede that killed 45 Jewish pilgrims.

A probe into Israel's worst civilian disaster on Wednesday found Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "bears personal responsibility" for the 2021 stampede which killed 45 Jewish pilgrims.

Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews had converged on Mount Meron, near Israel's border with Lebanon, on April 30, 2021 for an annual pilgrimage to the tomb of a reputed second-century rabbi.

The stampede in the male section of the gender-segregated crowd is believed to have started as people moved through a narrow passageway that became a deadly choke-point.

At least 16 children and teenagers were among the 45 dead.

"The Prime Minister is responsible for identifying proactively, by himself or through mechanisms on his behalf, issues that require the attention of his office and, if necessary, his intervention, in particular those related to a risk of human lives," said the commission of inquiry report into the stampede.

The inquiry found that from 2008 up to the day of the tragedy, the Prime Minister's office was notified on several occasions of the potential hazards caused by high traffic around the tomb of rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, also known by the Hebrew acronym Rashbi.

Mr. Netanyahu was in power for 12 of those years.