The untold story of the Knesset War Room, part one - exclusive

MK Eliyahu Revivo drove to Eilat to organize the transport of a special CT machine to help identify bodies from Yoseftal Hospital to the Shura military base near Ramle.

MK Avichai Boaron gathered a group of volunteers to work a factory line at a weapons factory to help with production. MK Yulia Malinovsky left her son's birthday party to finalize the donation of an ECMO machine to Kaplan Hospital.

Amidst the chaos of the days and weeks following the October 7 Hamas massacre, Israel's Members of Knesset received thousands of requests for aid from civilians, evacuees, families of people who went missing, survivors, families of children with special needs, managers of old age homes, soldiers, and many, many more.

In parallel, massive amounts of donated money and equipment came pouring in from Jews and supporters of Israel worldwide.

In an effort to take control of the pandemonium and begin providing aid, over 90 Knesset members banded together and began an operation that quickly metastasized. It became known as the Knesset War Room.

The story reveals some of the chaos that reigned during those weeks, as public services collapsed under the pressure of hundreds of thousands of Israelis in need of instant aid. Realizing that the government ministries for the most part were unprepared and completely overwhelmed, Members of Knesset attempt to fill the void. The story is, on one hand, the story of a country caught completely by surprise and the ensuing breakdown of many of its public systems, and on the other, a story of improvisation on a large scale by public servants who put aside deep political divisions for the common good.

The Knesset War Room operated below the radar for approximately two months and eventually shut down. Hours of exclusive interviews of six MKs, one minister, and other Knesset officials, provided pieces to a puzzle that gradually began to emerge as to what went on during those two dizzying months. The story is laid out chronologically, beginning on Sunday, October 8.

On the morning of October 8, MK Eliyahu Revivo (Likud) opened a WhatsApp group that included the entire 120 Members of Knesset, an unprecedented event in and of itself.

Later that day, Negev and Galilee Minister Yizhak Wasserlauf (Otzma Yehudit) used connections to approve usage of an apartment in Ramat Gan as a call center, and later on of a warehouse in Ramat Gan as well. Wasserlauf and MK Pnina Tamano-Shata (National Unity) met that day to discuss how to utilize the space and their influence to try to help some of the requests for aid that were pouring in.

The Knesset's Legal Advisory team sprang into action as well. Already on October 8th, the Knesset Ethics Committee chaired by MK Yinon Azulay (Shas) convened to approve a special measure to allow MKs to fundraise and deal with donors, which they were not allowed to do under prior protocol. This was done with close oversight of the Knesset's Legal Advisory Team. In addition, the principle of separation of powers dictates that the Knesset's role is to oversee government ministries, and MKs are therefore not supposed to work directly alongside government ministry officials. The Ethics Committee, with the legal team's oversight, permitted it temporarily.

MKs were now allowed to connect donors to people and organizations requesting aid; direct people with requests to relevant government agencies; and work alongside government workers to solve problems.

The MKs themselves were not permitted to handle donations directly, and a mechanism was quickly developed whereby MKs directed donors to send their contributions directly to a bank account of a nonprofit called Pitchon Lev, one of whose members was acquainted with MK Boaz Toporovsky (Yesh Atid). Later on, a nonprofit was also formed in the US called "Achenu Kol Beyt Yisrael," which received donations from US donors and then passed them on to Pitchon Lev as well.

A few days later

On October 9, a number of MKs congregated in Ramat Gan and split into work teams based on where each could contribute the most.

The MKs also soon decided to split into two separate groups. The first, which was responsible for requests relating specifically to equipment, remained in Ramat Gan. The second moved to the Knesset, where they fielded all other requests. The MKs set up in the Knesset Science and Technology Committee room, and eventually spilled over into adjacent rooms as well.

The work teams evolved and changed over time, but initially, they were as follows: Donations and aid in obtaining civilian equipment and food – MKs Shelley Tal-Meron (Yesh Atid), Michal Shir (Yesh Atid), Meir Cohen (Yesh Atid) and Merav Ben Ari (Yesh Atid). Donations and aid in obtaining equipment for the military and for civilian first-response teams (excluding firearms) – MKs Yizhal Pindros (UTJ), Keti Sheetrit (Likud), Yulia Malinovsky (Yisrael Beytenu), Tzvi Sukkot (RZP), and Erez Malul (Shas). Firearms for civilian first-response teams – MKs Avichai Boaron (Likud), Oded Forer (Yisrael Beytenu), and Moshe Pasal (Likud); MK Gadi Eisenkot (National Unity) became involved in this team as well.

Tal-Meron was responsible for Israeli donations, and Pindros was responsible for donations from abroad, mainly from the United States.

Tamano-Shata coordinated the general distribution of responsibilities; MK Michal Woldiger (RZP) who was a minister in the finance ministry at the time but has since left the position, and MK Debby Biton (Yesh Atid) were responsible for the war room at the Knesset; MK Moshe Roth (United Torah Judaism) field requests in English; MK Yossi Tayeb (Shas) in French; and MK Vladimir Beliak (Yesh Atid) in Russian.

A team also headed to the Shura Military Base to assist in the effort to identify the many bodies of victims of the massacre. These included MKs Simcha Rothman (RZP), Gilad Kariv (Labor), Eliyahu Revivo (Likud), Yonatan Mashriki (Shas), and Erez Malul (Shas).

Other teams emerged as well. A team led by MKs Ofir Katz (Likud) and Efrat Rayten (Labor) worked to coordinate MKs' attendance at the many ceremonies. MK Karine Elharrar (Yesh Atid) led a team to provide assistance to residents who requested evacuation, but were not part of the areas designated for evacuation. This especially applied to Ashkelon, and Elharrar's team began searching for temporary housing solutions for these cases. Elharrar also worked on cases of people with special needs who needed more specified solutions.

Likud MK Etti Atiah worked to provide solutions for Israelis abroad who needed a way to return home/ Party managers who are not MKs, such as National Unity's Michal Dor, also took on responsibilities.

On October 10th

By October 10th, the two call centers in Ramat Gan and in the Knesset were fielding hundreds of calls a day, and were operating around the clock staffed by members of Knesset themselves and their advisors and assistants.

Amongst the many stories from those first few days, none stood out more than the story of the CT scan at Yoseftal Hospital. Every one of the MKs mentioned the story as something they remembered especially well. The need for the special CT machine arose after bodies began arriving at the Shura base in unrecognizable conditions. An MK heard from an acquaintance that there was one such machine in a container in the "courtyard of Yoseftal Hospital" in Eilat.

The hospital agreed to provide Shura with the technicians to operate the machine, but the question then became one of transportation. The MKs needed a truck to make the long drive, but couldn't find one. The versions of the story differ slightly, but Revivo and Pitchon Lev managed to hire a truck, and Revivo himself drove down to Eilat to finalize the issue.

Many of the MKs described the occurrence as a sobering moment that made them realize the severity of the situation, both in terms of the severity of the massacre, and in terms of their ability to help solve at least part of the ongoing chaos.

In the following days, some MKs began to focus on the missing military equipment, and on the fact that, according to some MKs, the IDF was unwilling to admit that there was a need for help. The MKs initiated a closed-door Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting in order to present a list of nearly 350 different demands for military equipment. The Post obtained the list, which is described in a separate article.

Some government ministries eventually began to rumble into action as well. These and other events, as well as criticism of the government's inaction and lessons the MKs said they learned, will appear in a continuation of this article.