‘Whitewash’: Israeli opposition slams government plan for October 7 inquiry

TEL AVIV: Israel’s opposition politicians harshly slammed the government’s plan to form its own commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attacks, arguing it falls short of a full state investigation.

“The government is doing everything it can to escape the truth and evade responsibility,” opposition leader Yair Lapid said Sunday. “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.”

Lapid added that the government’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.”

MK Yair Golan, chairman of the Democrats party, echoed the criticism on social media, tweeting, “He who is being investigated does not appoint his own investigators. The events of October 7 will be investigated by a state commission of inquiry. That is a promise.”

MK Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, described the proposed panel as a “whitewashing” effort. “It is unacceptable that those responsible for the failure are the ones determining its composition and true areas of responsibility under the pretext of broad agreement; it is clear that everything stems from fear and hysteria regarding the outcomes of a genuine and independent investigation,” he wrote.

Despite the backlash, the government reportedly approved the creation of an independent investigative committee at its weekly Sunday meeting. According to multiple Hebrew media reports, the committee will have full investigative authority–but it will not be a state commission, and its mandate will be defined by cabinet ministers.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will establish a special ministerial panel tasked with determining the commission’s scope, including the issues to be investigated and the relevant timeframes. The ministerial committee has 45 days to submit its recommendations to the government. The government said it will seek to ensure the panel’s composition has “as broad public approval as possible.”

In recent weeks, High Court judges noted that “there is no real dispute regarding the very need to establish a state commission with broad investigative powers.”

Last week, in a Knesset debate, Netanyahu defended his plan, arguing, “The question is not only what is being investigated, and not only who is being investigated. The question is who is investigating the truth. The opposition is shouting for a state commission of inquiry. But a huge part of the people will not accept the composition of investigators that you propose.”

Civil organizations also condemned the government’s move. The Zolat Institute called it “a major cover-up attempt by the state, a failure of thousands of murdered, injured, and entire cities that were occupied,” adding that it will pursue all legal avenues to push for a High Court-ordered state investigation. The Free in Our Land movement said, “The most failed government thinks it will erase the stain from the pages of history. That will not happen. Whoever is guilty will bear the consequences, and his name will be tarnished for generations.”

Netanyahu has resisted calls for a formal state commission of inquiry, calling it “politically biased.” Critics accuse him of delaying and weakening the probe. Such commissions, led by senior Supreme Court justices, can summon witnesses, collect evidence, and make recommendations, though the government is not required to follow them.

Israel’s High Court of Justice gave the government a deadline of November 14 to explain “what the fate” of such a commission of inquiry will be.

The Israel Defense Forces has released a series of detailed internal probes examining how roughly 5,000 terrorists from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad were able to storm Israeli communities and overrun military positions. The reports reveal that the army’s chain of command collapsed amid the chaos as soldiers found themselves vastly outnumbered. Investigators concluded that the IDF misread Hamas’s intentions and misinterpreted intelligence warnings in the days leading up to October 7, while much of the military’s attention remained directed toward potential threats from Iran and its proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The IDF probes only address issues of operations, intelligence, and command–not decisions made by the political echelon.

Israel’s last commission, investigating a Mount Meron stampede that killed 45, held Netanyahu personally responsible in 2024. (ANI/TPS)