The Israeli government decided on Sunday to appoint an independent commission of inquiry to probe the failures that precipitated the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre, nixing a formal state commission of inquiry.
According to the government decision, a ministerial panel appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be determining the members and mandate of the Oct. 7 commission, as well as the probe’s scope.
Since the Gaza ceasefire, “fighting has shifted into a sort of interim state, and the government seeks to use this to advance the establishment of a commission that will be independent, have full investigative powers, and gain as broad public consensus as possible,” the decision stated.
The government said it will seek commission members who have “as broad public approval as possible,” according to Sunday’s resolution.
The ministerial panel was given 45 days to submit its recommendations to the government, ahead of a 60-day deadline Jerusalem was given by the Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, to respond to a petition demanding that it announce a state commission of inquiry.
Netanyahu’s government has resisted launching a state commission of inquiry—which has the power to compel testimony and demand files, including classified documents—saying it would harm the war effort.
In response to petitions filed with the Supreme Court demanding a state commission, the government has argued that the president of the High Court of Justice cannot be trusted to appoint an unbiased committee per the State Commissions of Inquiry Law, 1968, and that the panel’s conclusions would not be acceptable to large swaths of the public.
The far-left Zulat for Equality and Human Rights NGO, which is leading a petition by 86 former elected officials demanding a state commission of inquiry, charged on Sunday that the government decision was the “biggest cover-up attempt since the establishment of the state.”
The organization continued: “The meaning of the decision by the Israeli government today is one: a state commission of inquiry into the greatest failure since the establishment of the state will not be established. ... In the coming days, we will use every legal avenue so that the High Court orders the establishment of a state commission of inquiry.”
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid Party) also slammed the government’s decision on the investigation, claiming there has been “broad public consensus in favor of a state commission of inquiry.”
In May 2024, Netanyahu told U.S. television host Phil McGraw, better known as Dr. Phil, in an interview that he holds “myself and everyone” responsible for the deadly failures leading up to the Oct. 7 attacks.
“We’re going to have to have a thorough examination once the war ends of exactly what happened, how it happened and who made it happen,” he declared. “But I think right now, our goal is one: to achieve victory.”
