Government says no Oct. 7 inquiry before election, urges High Court not to intervene

The government told the High Court of Justice on Wednesday that it should not issue a ruling on petitions asking that it order the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the October 7, 2023, catastrophe before the upcoming elections, since the issue is politically sensitive.

The government, in its update to the High Court, said it did not succeed in passing its legislation for the establishment of a politically appointed inquiry into the Hamas invasion and atrocities — which it sought to create instead of a state commission appointed by the Supreme Court chief, which surveys have shown is the public’s preferred option — due to legislative time constraints before the Knesset was dissolved last week.

Should the court acquiesce to the government’s request, it would mean that at least three years will have elapsed since the Hamas-led massacre before any form of inquiry is established into the unprecedented security and intelligence disaster of October 7.

“The way in which the [October 7] events are investigated is at the heart of a political argument between the parties standing for election,” the government told the High Court.

“For these reasons, it is not appropriate that the court issue a ruling on this issue or intervene over it at this stage,” the update continued, adding that the government, in principle, holds that the court has no authority to order it to establish a state commission of inquiry.

The government noted that it has passed its legislation for a politically appointed inquiry in a first reading, and that it intends to approve the bill in its final readings should it be able to form a new government after the upcoming election.

The first of the three readings on the proposed legislation passed 59-0, as opposition lawmakers boycotted the vote. The opposition boycotted the bill throughout the legislative process and has vowed not to cooperate with the proposed political commission.

Likud MKs Dan Illouz and Yuli Edelstein also chose not to participate in the vote, and both have since announced their departures from the party.

The proposal, promoted by Likud MK Ariel Kallner, calls for a Knesset supermajority — 80 out of 120 MKs — to appoint a six-member investigative committee and its chairman. If there is no agreement after two weeks, the coalition and opposition would be allowed to select three committee members each, who would be joined by four supervisory members representing bereaved families.

However, the commission may begin operating as long as at least three members have been appointed, meaning that if the opposition continues to boycott the process, a commission composed solely of coalition appointees could still conduct the inquiry.

The bill provides for the scope of the politically appointed investigation to be determined by the coalition-appointed commission, and Netanyahu has said it must include the 1993 Oslo Accords, the 2005 Disengagement from Gaza and the 2023 protest movement against the government’s judicial overhaul agenda, in what critics say is an attempt to deflect blame for his government’s failure to prevent the attack.

Netanyahu has served as prime minister since 2009, with the exception of 18 months in 2021-2022. Despite vowing on the 2009 campaign trail to topple the Hamas regime, he avoided destabilizing its rule in Gaza over the next 14 years and presided over a policy of encouraging Qatar to send hundreds of millions of dollars into the Hamas-run Strip, which he publicly defended as essential to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in the coastal enclave.

Critics accuse the prime minister, who did not attend the vote in person, of seeking a politically appointed probe to shield himself and his government from responsibility. Netanyahu has never accepted explicit responsibility for the attack, instead blaming security forces, previous governments, the judiciary and political opponents.

The opposition has demanded that an independent state commission of inquiry be established, but Netanyahu has adamantly opposed forming one because its members would be selected by the president of the Supreme Court, which he claims is biased against him. However, Netanyahu himself called for a state commission of inquiry into the previous government’s conduct as recently as 2022. Opinion polls have shown that a majority of Israelis support establishing such an inquiry, the traditional body for investigating major incidents and the only body empowered to subpoena witnesses.

Last week, the government rammed through several highly contentious pieces of legislation in the final week of the Knesset’s term, including a law freezing arrests of ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers, a law removing key powers from the attorney general, and a controversial media overhaul law.

Ariela Karmel contributed to this report.

The post Government says no Oct. 7 inquiry before election, urges High Court not to intervene appeared first on The Times of Israel.

Never miss important Israel stories - get the free Times of Israel Daily Edition