Commission Finds Decades of Government Neglect Led to Deadly Israel Crowd Crush
• Years of neglect at high levels of Israel's government contributed to the deaths of 45 people at an overcrowded religious festival in 2021
• A commission of inquiry directly implicated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the disaster, saying he shares responsibility
• The overcrowding and deaths were due to deeper, longstanding problems like poor site management, ignored safety rules, and failure to make needed changes
• Political pressures negatively impacted decisions about the site, preventing attempts to improve the situation
• The commission determined Netanyahu likely knew the site was poorly managed and risky, so he should have known even if he did not have direct knowledge