Hebrew daily "Yediot Ahronot" reports today that State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss will recommend the removal of Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz and Minister of Interior Eli Yishai for their role in the Carmel fire, which killed 42 people in early December 2010. The draft report is due to be published next week, but some section have been leaked.
Lindenstrauss places personal responsibility for the disaster on Steinitz and Yishai. He says that Yishai, who is responsible for Fire and Rescue Services, failed in his duty to prepare for a disaster of this kind and in his actions during the fire.
Lindenstrauss says that Steinitz bears the responsibility for refusing to provide the budgets needed by the Fire and Rescue Services, demanding reform and restructuring of the service as a condition. Lindenstrauss will apparently concluded that the Ministry of Finance should have first provided the budgets regardless of the situation at the Fire and Rescue Service, and afterwards demanded its reform.
Although sources at the Office of the State Comptroller indicate that Lindenstrauss will not recommend that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fire Steinitz and Yishai, but recommend transferring. Netanyahu, Minister of Public Security Yitzhak Aharonovich, and Minister of Defense Ehud Barak will not emerge unscathed from the report, however; Lindenstrauss will reportedly conclude that they bear ministerial, but not personal, responsibility for the disaster.
In addition to the heavy casualties, the fire destroyed scores of homes and 50,000 dunam (12,500 acres) of forest. It took 82 hours to put out, and only with the help of foreign firefighting tankers.
Lindenstrauss rejects Yishai's contention that he did everything possible, and behind closed doors, said that even if Yishai had discussed the issue before the disaster, he did nothing practical.
A legal source told "Yediot Ahronot" that Lindenstrauss intends to let public pressure force Netanyahu to fire Steinitz and Yishai.
Both Yishai and Steinitz responded that they have no intention of resigning.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 29, 2012
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