Despite overwhelming support in polls for the formation of a National Committee of Inquiry to investigate the October 7 Hamas massacre, members of Israel’s government indicated a number of times in recent weeks that it did not intend to do so and will instead attempt to form a committee whose level of independence and authorities remain unclear.
The latest indication of this came in an interview on Kan Radio on Sunday morning with Transportation Minister Miri Regev, who said that a National Committee of Inquiry, whose members are chosen by the Supreme Court Chief Justice, is inappropriate to investigate the events leading up to the Hamas massacre since the courts were also ‘part of decisions’ made in those years that affected Israel’s security situation.
The minister gave as examples court decisions regarding house demolitions, bodies of terrorists, and rules of engagement. The government should form a national probe, she said, but one that is “accepted by all parts of society.”
Regev, who is a member of the National Security Cabinet, said that she did not know what the mechanism would be to form such a committee and added that it should not form until after the security situation in the North stabilizes. She did not give an estimate of how long this would take.
Another sign of this came during a press conference on October 1 held by a civilian probe that was formed in July. One of the probe’s founders said he had learned that the government was planning to enact legislation to found a new type of committee whose members would be appointed equally by the coalition and opposition and also include representatives of the communities affected by the massacre.
Blaming the opposition
In response to a query, a spokesperson for Justice Minister Yariv Levin confirmed that “the prime minister wants to form a probe whose makeup and mandate will be agreed upon by the coalition and opposition.” The spokesperson stressed, however, that “no legislative initiatives [were advancing] at the moment.”
In August, an MK from the Likud said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post that there would definitely be an investigation, but “not necessarily” a National Committee of Inquiry.
A National Committee of Inquiry is the most powerful probe in Israel’s legal system and the only type of probe that operates completely independent of the political echelon. Its members are appointed by the Chief Justice, and it has the power to subpoena witnesses and make personal recommendations regarding individuals. The other types of probes are government-appointed and parliament-appointed inquiry committees.
A poll led by Nimrod Nir from the Agam Lab at Hebrew University ahead of the one-year commemoration of the October 7 massacre found that 70% of Israelis support forming a National Committee of Inquiry to investigate the government and security service’s responsibility in the failures that led to the Hamas massacre.
Sixty-one percent said they believe that the government is attempting to evade the formation of such a committee, and 53% agreed that the fact that the committee has yet to be formed endangers national security.
In addition, the poll found that 43% of Israelis believed that the government was the most responsible body for the massacre, compared to 37% who believed this about the army and security agencies.