Englman announced that he would probe the disaster back on May 3, when it appeared that the existing government of Benjamin Netanyahu would block any attempt at a state inquiry.
At the time, the debate was whether Englman would be more aggressive in laying personal blame on key ministers such as Arye Deri or Amir Ohana than he has in many of his other reports, or whether he was initiating the inquiry at Netanyahu’s behest to whitewash the issue.
Coming four days after the disaster which killed 45 people, Englman’s announcement in May also indicated that if, unexpectedly, a state commission did ever emerge, he would reconsider his mandate.
Former chief justice Miriam Naor was appointed to head the state inquiry on June 27 shortly after Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid ousted Netanyahu from power.
Explaining his decision to abandon his own inquiry, Englman said that his work would now be repetitive.
As long as the only probes being pursued were by the state prosecution or by some very limited authority under the Netanyahu government, Englman said, his office was necessary to ensure that the full picture was covered.
However, given Naor’s broad authority to investigate all issues, including summoning officials and issuing conclusions, the comptroller said his probe no longer served its original purpose.
Englman noted that four senior officials from his office met with Naor’s commission to give over all information they had collected to date, in order to aid in the inquiry.
The Meron disaster has been politicized, with some in the current government looking to score points against the opposition, which itself is looking to avoid blame for a disaster that it views as a longer-term issue that was ignored by a variety of coalitions.
Broadly speaking, the families of victims from the tragedy are supportive of the state inquiry, although some haredi (ultra-Orthodox) ones are wary of any actions by the commission that smack of politics.
Likewise, some have accused Englman of being too close to Netanyahu, who made him the first non-judge comptroller in decades, and of trying to assist Netanyahu to get his legal bills paid by tycoon friends.
Englman had told The Jerusalem Post that he would be potentially ready to be aggressive in naming people to blame for the disaster.
Now, no one will get to see whether Englman would have crossed the threshold of personal criticism.