Israeli government again postpones decision on commission of inquiry into failures leading to Oct 7

During a cabinet meeting Sunday, convened to discuss the formation of an official state commission of inquiry into the failures and events surrounding the Hamas-led invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and coalition ministers once again postponed a decision on the matter.

According to reports in Hebrew media, the cabinet meeting was a stormy session, with Netanyahu and several ministers clashed with Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who favors establishing an independent state probe into the events surrounding the Hamas massacres. 

During the meeting, Baharav-Miara reportedly told the ministers that the government must immediately establish a commission of inquiry, citing Israel’s claims in International Criminal Court proceedings that such a commission would be formed.

“A state commission of inquiry is the appropriate legal device to investigate the events of October 7 and the war,” Baharav-Miara reportedly told the cabinet. 

According to Haaretz, when Netanyahu asked, "Who suggested to The Hague that we would form a state commission of inquiry?" the attorney general responded, "You, sir."

The International Criminal Court has a policy of not investigating officials from countries which have a functioning independent judiciary, and the commission of independent inquiries for investigating government failures is often seen as a sign of such an independent judiciary able to hold officials accountable. 

The ministers and the attorney general also clashed over the government’s stance that such a commission of inquiry only be established once the war is over. Minister of Agriculture Avi Dichter is reported to have asked Baharav-Miara, “Does the attorney general believe the war is over?” 

She is said to have responded that the establishment of the commission is not dependent on the war ending. 

Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, who was not invited to the discussion, despite requesting to attend, reportedly sent a message to the cabinet meeting saying he supports the immediate establishment of the inquiry.

Netanyahu, angered at the move, called Bar a “bureaucrat,” saying that only elected officials, not bureaucrats, would decide when and how to appoint the state inquiry. 

After four hours of often intense debate, the cabinet decided to postpone the official decision by another 90 days. 

Netanyahu has repeatedly stated his position that a state inquiry is not appropriate while the war is still ongoing. While he has maintained that the commission of inquiry will clear his name, critics say that his continual refusal to establish a committee is motivated by fear the results would implicate him. 

Even some of Netanyahu’s coalition members appear to be afraid of a state inquiry’s findings. United Torah Judaism member Moshe Gafni told a group of bereaved families on Sunday, “What a state commission of inquiry would mean is that Netanyahu goes home.” 

On Tuesday, the government’s representative, Michael Rabello, told the High Court of Justice that the cabinet had convened a hearing on the state inquiry, as instructed by the High Court, but that it was requesting an extension of 90 days. 

“The overwhelming majority of cabinet members believed that the time was not yet ripe to establish a commission of inquiry of any kind due to the state of war we still find ourselves in,” Rabello wrote to the court.