Netanyahu says govt will oversee Oct 7 inquiry

Tel Aviv: 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 Monday 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.

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 Sunday’s decision, he said the ceasefire that went into effect on October 10 allows the government to start the investigation.

His Cabinet approved the formation of a watered-down “government committee.” 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. “The govt is doing everything it can to run from the truth and evade responsibility,” Lapid said. The govt is “establishing a commission that will investigate itself,” noted the Movement for Quality Government in Israel.