Israel announces ‘independent’ inquiry into October 7 attacks, avoiding state commission scrutiny
The Israeli government has announced the establishment of an independent investigative committee – and not a state commission of inquiry – to look into the failures that led to the Hamas-led October 7 attacks in southern Israel in 2023.
According to Israeli media, Netanyahu is expected to name a special ministerial panel that will be in charge of formulating the commission’s mandate, what it will investigate and the timeframe that will be probed. By contrast, members of a state commission of inquiry are appointed by the president of the Supreme Court and not by politicians.
The panel will have 45 days to deliver its recommendations to the government.
Since the attacks, responsibility for the failures that led to the killing of about 1,200 Israelis has been a thorny issue for Netanyahu, who, contrary to other senior officials, has not admitted any share of the blame. The prime minister maintains that it was the security establishment, rather than the political echelon, that was responsible for preventing the attacks.
Independent, who are you trying to fool.
Critics slam Israeli gov’t for setting up its own probe into October 7 failures
As we just reported, the Israeli government decided to appoint a committee, rather than a state commission of inquiry, to investigate what happened on October 7, 2023. As the news emerged, criticism poured in.
“The government is doing everything it can to escape the truth and evade responsibility,” said opposition leader Yair Lapid. “There is a broad public consensus on a state commission of inquiry. This is what the country needs, this is what the public demands and this is what will happen.”
The cabinet’s “refusal to investigate its failures endangers national security, constitutes an insult, and is an evasion of responsibility toward the soldiers and families who have sacrificed so much since October 7.”
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, a government watchdog NGO, also joined the criticism: “Let’s call [the committee] by its real name: Cover-up Committee.”
“The government will investigate itself. Those people responsible for the failure will determine who will investigate them, what they will investigate and to what extent. This is a transparent attempt to evade a real investigation of the greatest failure in the history of the state,” the prominent group said on X.
Israel’s October 7 inquiry is a ‘cover-up’, says coalition of Israeli families
The October Council, a group representing family members of captives and those killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks, has rejected Israel’s announcement earlier today that a government-appointed investigative committee – rather than a state commission of inquiry – will examine the 2023 events.
In a statement carried by The Times of Israel, the coalition accused the Israeli government of “trying every cheap trick in the book” and called the inquiry a “cover-up”.
“We want to again clarify that the prime minister of Israel will be the first investigated in the state commission of inquiry that will be formed, just as the State of Israel’s law states,” the group said.
“Do you think we are stupid?” it added in a Facebook post addressed to the government. “Do you want the perpetrators to appoint the investigators?”
The group joined a chorus of critics slamming the government’s decision, including Israeli watchdog The Movement for Quality Government and opposition leader Yair Lapid.
