Israeli president renews call for independent Oct. 7 commission of inquiry

Such commissions have broader authority to summon witnesses and collect evidence and are headed by a senior Supreme Court justice.

By Pesach Benson, TPS

Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday renewed calls for a state commission of inquiry into the events surrounding Hamas’s October 7 attacks.

Herzog’s remarks came after families of fallen soldiers complained that audio recordings of troops released on Monday by the Israel Defense Forces were incomplete.

“The cries of the families of the surveillance soldiers and many other bereaved families who have turned to me breaks my heart and sharpens the need to convene a state commission of inquiry according to the law,” Herzog said.

“Trust must return to the state and the defense system, including by probing and deeply studying the failures and the terrible catastrophe of October 7 in a reliable and independent manner.”

There have been growing calls for the government to appoint an independent commission of inquiry to investigate political and military failures.

Such commissions have broader authority to summon witnesses and collect evidence, and are headed by a senior Supreme Court justice.

They may include personal recommendations about individuals under investigation, though the government is not bound to act on the recommendations.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the governing coalition say an independent commission should only be appointed after the war.

On Monday, opposition leader Yair Lapid vowed not to cooperate with any “political commission of inquiry” after Likud MK Ariel Kallner suggested legislation to establish a probe made up of members appointed by both the government and opposition.

“They are afraid of the truth. They do not want the Israeli public to know the truth,” Lapid said. “The only committee that can be established, the only committee that can be trusted, is a state commission of inquiry.”

The last state commission of inquiry, which investigated Israel’s worst civilian disaster held Netanyahu personally responsible for the tragedy in a report released in April.

Forty-five people were killed and 150 people were injured in a stampede at a holy site on Mount Meron in the Upper Galilee during the Jewish holiday of Lag B’Omer in 2021.

The tragedy was triggered by a combination of overcrowded conditions and a faulty walkway in a narrow passage.

On Thursday, Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered Chief of Staff Hertzi Halevi to complete the army’s internal investigation into October 7 by the end of January.

Katz said he will not sign off on promotions of officers to the ranks of major general or give generals new roles until he reviews the army’s findings and “learns and understands their meaning and possible effect on the candidates for promotion.”

In a letter to senior commanders, Halevi disagreed with Katz, saying, “The appointments of officers is not a privilege. It is a necessity and a duty.”

At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 97 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been declared dead.

Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.