Outrage in Israel as Benjamin Netanyahu says government will oversee inquiry

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on trial for corruption charges. File Picture: Richard Drew/AP

After repeated delays, Israel’s government has agreed to launch an investigation into the government failures that led to the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, that triggered the war in Gaza.

But questions about the investigation’s independence drew accusations that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to evade personal responsibility in the worst attack in Israel’s history.

Israel has traditionally appointed an independent state commission of inquiry, led by a retired judge, following major governmental failures.

Mr Netanyahu has resisted calls for such an investigation into the October 7 failures, saying only that he would answer all questions when the war is over. In this decision, he said the ceasefire that went into effect on October 10 allows the government to start the probe.

His Cabinet approved the formation of a watered-down “government committee”. Mr Netanyahu will oversee the makeup of the team governing the inquiry, in effect putting him in charge of the probe. More details about the inquiry are to be announced in 45 days.

Israel’s opposition leader, Yair Lapid, called the decision insulting to the victims of October 7 and to the hundreds of soldiers who have died in the war.

'Run from the truth'

“The government is doing everything it can to run from the truth and evade responsibility,” Mr Lapid said.

The government is “establishing a commission that will investigate itself,” noted the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, which is critical of Mr Netanyahu. “This is not an investigative commission, this is a cover-up commission.” In the October 7 attack, Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people and took over 250 others hostage.

Nearly 500 soldiers have been killed in fighting since then, while Palestinian health officials say over 69,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas.

According to a poll by the Jerusalem-based thinktank Israel Democracy Institute last month, nearly three quarters of the public support a fully independent commission of inquiry.

Even among Mr Netanyahu’s right-wing base, 68% favoured an independent commission. The survey questioned 1,000 people and had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.

Meanwhile, Israeli settlers have rampaged through a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank, setting fire to homes and cars in the latest in a string of settler attacks in recent weeks.

The violence drew a rare condemnation from Mr Netanyahu and other top leaders.

Israel’s military said soldiers and police were sent to al-Jab’a, a small village south-west of Bethlehem, after reports of fires and vandalism.

The attack came hours after clashes between Israeli security forces and settlers defending an unauthorised outpost on a nearby hill facing evacuation and demolition yesterday, according to Cogat, the Israeli military body that deals with civilians in the West Bank.

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