Outrage in Israel: Netanyahu govt to monitor probe into Oct 7 attack

Tel Aviv: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement that the inquiry into the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, will be overseen by his government has given rise to huge outrage in the country.

After repeated delays, Israel's government has agreed to launch the investigation into the government failures that led to the attack and triggered the war in Gaza, the Associated Press reported.

Questions about the investigation's independence drew accusations Monday that 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 government is doing everything it can to run from the truth and evade responsibility,” Lapid said.

The government is “establishing a commission that will investigate itself,” noted the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, which is critical of Netanyahu. “This is not an investigative commission, this is a cover-up commission.”

In the October 7 attack, Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people and took over 250 others hostage. Nearly 500 soldiers have been killed in fighting since then, while Palestinian health officials say over 69,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's retaliatory offensive against Hamas.

According to a poll by the Jerusalem-based think tank Israel Democracy Institute last month, nearly three-quarters of the public support a fully independent commission of inquiry.

Even among Netanyahu's right-wing base, 68 per cent favoured an independent commission. The survey questioned 1,000 people and had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.

Thousands of people demonstrated on Saturday night in Tel Aviv, many calling for an independent probe.