Israel's governing coalition struck down a bill proposal by members of the opposition to found a National Committee of Investigation to examine the events leading up to the October 7 Hamas massacre after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated an argument in the Knesset plenum on Wednesday that an investigation before the war is over would hamper Israel's ability to defeat Hamas.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, who responded to the bill proposal, said that the government "would not form a government led by Gantz, Lapid, or their proxies in the High Court of Justice."
Opposition leader MK Yair Lapid responded in the plenum soon after that he could not lead or influence a committee of investigation because he himself would need to appear before it.
Lapid added that he had been updated with the same intelligence as the prime minister in the weeks prior to the October massacre, and "it was clear to anyone who understands something in this business that something terrible was going to happen."
Lapid noted a warning he gave in a press conference on September 20, approximately two weeks before the massacre, about the threat of the outbreak of a war on multiple fronts simultaneously. A spokesperson for Lapid later sent out a video of that warning.
A National Committee of Investigation is appointed by the High Court Chief Justice and operates completely independently of the political echelon. In the past years, Netanyahu refrained from forming them over a number of issues, including the 2021 Meron disaster in which 45 men were crushed to death.
The Lapid-Bennett government that took power a few months after the disaster founded the committee, which found that Netanyahu, among others, bore personal responsibility for the disaster. The prime minister responded by accusing the committee of being politically motivated.
Netanyahu demonstrated his point in the Knesset plenum earlier on Wednesday by telling a story about Napoleon Bonaparte, who allegedly was forced to divulge sensitive information to an investigative committee, and the information allegedly led to his downfall at Waterloo. Netanyahu argued that security and political officials should focus first on winning the war and only then turn to investigations.
Netanyahu's comments came during a special debate approximating the Israeli version of the UK's Prime Minister's Questions. It includes a series of short speeches by MKs and then responses by the prime minister and opposition leader, both of whom are required to attend.
Lapid argued earlier in the plenum that the real reason the prime minister has yet to form a committee was because Netanyahu knew that he would be found responsible for the policies that enabled Hamas to increase its power and eventually carry out the attack.
National Unity chairman MK Benny Gantz, who joined the war cabinet alongside Netanyahu at the war's outbreak and left the government in June, wrote on X:
'Why did you delay the entry into Khan Yunis, Rafah?'
"Mr. Prime Minister, you were afraid to enter an operation [in Gaza]. You hesitated to enter Khan Yunis. You hesitated to enter Rafah. You spoke about Rafah for campaign purposes, while we insisted on first taking the Philadelphi road [on the Egypt-Gaza border] and preventing Hamas' rearming."
Gantz continued, "Everything will be revealed when the protocols and testimonies will be heard in a National Committee of Investigation, which must ask the question – why did you delay the entry into Khan Younis and Rafah? Why were you afraid, you delayed, you hesitated? And what was the price we paid and are still paying for it?"
Netanyahu responded on X, "Again fake news from Benny Gantz. I took a screenshot [of his post]. I will recall his delusional tweet when the protocols will be released and the public will see who looked for excuses 'to stop the war for a year or two', and who really pushed forward to continue the war until victory."
Gantz responded by repeating his call for a committee of investigation. "Alongside this, what's done cannot be taken back, but the hostages must be returned, and the evacuees from the North and South must return home. If you do the right thing, you will receive all the support, and that is what is important now."