Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai testified before a commission of inquiry into the Mount Meron tragedy on Monday, explaining that an engineering failure was the root cause of the disaster and that it was therefore not his fault.
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"I'm not ignoring the issue of overcrowding, but the failure begins with an engineering failure… Without the engineering failure, no disaster would have happened," he said.
Shabtai's hearing came after hours of testimony regarding the May 2021 Meron disaster that killed 45 people and injured at least 150.
"The police chief is not going to go and check every bridge, every crossing and every path," he said. "Just because the police served as the responsible adult in the room, when nobody else would, does not make me responsible… I knew that nobody wanted to take responsibility. So I was involved so that the event did not fall to pieces."
