ByJEREMY SHARON
Defense Minister Benny Gantz sent on Monday a proposal to the cabinet of the new government recommending the establishment of an investigative committee into the Meron disaster in which 45 people died in a mass crush on Lag Ba’omer in late April.

The last government steadfastly refused to appoint such a committee which would be headed by a Supreme Court judge and would be independent of the government once established.

Ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism previously proposed the establishment of a public committee of inquiry but which would have been controlled by government ministers and whose members would have been chosen by those ministers.

“This is a basic ethical imperative vis-a-vis the families, but no less important. There is also a need for an investigation in order to prevent tragedies of this nature in the future,” said Gantz.

The proposal now needs to be voted on in the cabinet which could come as early as the next cabinet meeting, likely on Sunday.

The Forum of Families of Meron Victims welcomed Gantz’s move.

“As we have demanded from the outset, and together with MK Moshe Gafni, in his letter a month ago on behalf of the United Torah Judaism faction, we hope that an investigative committee into the Meron disaster  will be established immediately,” said the forum in a statement to the press.

“This is not a political matter, we expect the entire political spectrum to support the establishment of an inquiry committee so that the ultra-Orthodox community will sense that the investigation is carried out with sensitivity and with determination.”