The Israeli Government decided today to create a commission to investigate security failures in the attacks by Hamas Islamists on October 7, 2023, but avoiding an independent state structure, which is demanded by several sectors.
According to the Jerusalem Post, as part of the Government’s decision, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to create a special ministerial panel with powers to determine the commission’s mandate.
A state commission of inquiry should involve an investigation that operates independently of political decision-makers, with members appointed by the Supreme Court, but the chief executive requested that “it be conducted by a different commission, given the growing divide between the Government and the judiciary”, the newspaper reports.
According to the resolution, the commission will have full investigative authority and the Government will strive to ensure that its composition receives “the broadest possible public approval”, reports The Times of Israel.
The newspaper adds that Benjamin Netanyahu will form the special ministerial panel that will be responsible for determining the commission’s mandate, including the topics and deadlines that will be investigated.
This panel will have 45 days to present its recommendations to the government.
The prime minister has refused to create an independent investigation structure into security failures during the Hamas-led attacks two years ago in southern Israel, where around 1,200 people were massacred and 251 taken hostage, triggering the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Despite the recommendations of the Supreme Court and polls that show a majority in favor of the creation of an independent commission, Netanyahu has long been opposed, claiming that it could affect the course of the war, an argument that opponents say no longer makes sense with the truce in force in the Palestinian enclave.
In reaction to the decision taken today by the executive, the leader of the Israeli opposition and former prime minister, Yair Lapid, warned today that the Government is trying to manipulate an internal investigation into the attack by Palestinian militias.
Lapid accused the government of “doing everything possible to escape the truth and evading its responsibility” and called for a state commission with public consensus.
“This is what the country needs, this is what the people demand and this is what will happen”, he declared.
The leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party added that “the Government’s refusal to investigate its failures puts national security at risk, constitutes an insult and an evasion of responsibility towards the soldiers and their families who have sacrificed so much since October 7th”.
Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats party, also criticized the executive today, stating that “those who are being investigated do not appoint their own investigators”, also demanding an independent commission without political restrictions.
The Government’s resolution comes one day after thousands of people gathered in several cities in Israel to demand an investigation commission into the events of October 7, 2023.
According to the Israeli press, the demonstrations were held at the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv and also in Haifa, in the north of Israel, and in other locations in the country.
Anti-government protests are now directed at the creation of the independent commission, after almost two years of large weekly gatherings demanding negotiations from the executive to release hostages held by Palestinian militias.
Since the ceasefire agreement in force from October 10th in the Gaza Strip, only three bodies of the total number of hostages (20 alive and 28 dead) remain to be rescued as part of the commitment with Hamas.
“It must be a balanced commission that listens to everyone, investigates everyone and enjoys maximum public trust. The only way to guarantee this trust is through a broad consensus on the composition of the commission. In this consensus commission, I will be the first to present myself”, said Netanyahu recently in the Knesset (parliament), without making any commitment in this regard.
October 7, 2023 represented a historic failure of Israel’s security and information services, which has since launched a large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli offensive caused more than 69 thousand deaths, according to local authorities controlled by Hamas, the destruction of almost all infrastructure in the territory and the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.
The ceasefire agreement provides for the exchange of prisoners and bodies between the parties, the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces from the enclave and the access of humanitarian aid to the territory.
The next stage, still to be agreed, foresees the continuation of the Israeli withdrawal, the disarmament of Hamas, as well as the reconstruction and future governance of the enclave.