The Israeli government has announced the establishment of an independent investigative committee to look into the failures that led to the Hamas-led October 7 attacks in southern Israel in 2023.
The Israeli government decided to appoint a committee, rather than a state commission of inquiry, to investigate what happened on October 7, 2023.
According to reports from Israeli media, Prime Minister Benjamin 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.
However, criticism poured in shortly after the announcement
Opposition leader Yair Lapid stated that the government is doing everything it can to “escape the truth and evade responsibility.”
“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.”
Yair Lapid
He added that 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, saying on X, “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.”
Movement for Quality Government in Israel
Netanyahu Reiterates Israel’s Opposition To Palestinian State
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu again rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state at a government meeting, insisting that Gaza will be demilitarised and Hamas disarmed.
“Our opposition to a Palestinian state in any territory has not changed. Gaza will be demilitarised, and Hamas will be disarmed, the easy way or the hard way. I do not need affirmations, tweets or lectures.
“Even in [Trump’s] 20-point plan and in everything else, this territory will be demilitarised, and Hamas will be disarmed. And regarding a Palestinian state: Our opposition to a Palestinian state in any territory west of the Jordan River, this opposition is existing, valid and has not changed one bit.”
Benjamin Netanyahu
Netanyahu has long ruled out Palestinian independence, asserting that creating a Palestinian state would reward Hamas and eventually lead to an even larger Hamas-run state on Israel’s borders.
Netanyahu’s comments come a day before the United Nations Security Council votes on a resolution backing US President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan. The resolution would also endorse the creation of a “credible pathway” toward a Palestinian state.
The Security Council is expected to vote on a US proposal for a UN mandate for an international stabilization force in Gaza despite opposition from Russia, China and some Arab countries.
The US, under pressure from countries expected to contribute troops to the force, revised the resolution with stronger language about Palestinian self-determination. It now says that President Donald Trump’s plan may create a “credible pathway” to Palestinian statehood.
A rival Russian proposal uses even stronger language in favor of Palestinian statehood.
The creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel is seen internationally as the only realistic way to resolve the conflict for the long term.
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