The civil lawsuit filed by the Supernova music festival survivors against the state was requested by the State Attorney’s Office to be dismissed, KAN News reported Monday.
According to the report, the State Attorney’s Office stated that it is not appropriate for the failures of October 7 to be initially examined in the context of a civil damages lawsuit rather than through a national review process, such as a state commission of inquiry.
The Attorney’s Office also argued that the relevant parties in the case are currently focused on conducting the war in Gaza and fighting threats on several different fronts, making it impossible for the state to submit a defense statement or a response to the class-action lawsuit and the civil lawsuit.
The state requested that the lawsuit be dismissed entirely or delayed until the country stabilizes on all fronts.
In January, 42 survivors of the Nova festival filed a lawsuit against the state for NIS 200 million, where their representatives Anat and Gilad Ginzburg argued that the “disaster could have been avoided at so many points in time.” This lawsuit highlighted the negligence of the IDF, Shin Bet, and the Israel Police.
First-of-its-kind civil damages lawsuit
“One phone call was all that separated the plaintiffs’ lives, [their] physical and mental well-being from the destruction of their lives,” the survivors wrote in this civil damages lawsuit filed in the Tel Aviv District Court against the state’s security agencies. This is the first lawsuit of its kind.
The lawsuit included an expert opinion detailing the state’s failures, provided by a retired police superintendent who has been responsible for event approval and licensing for years.
The lawsuit also included individual medical opinions from the plaintiffs that supported the statements.