Netanyahu looks to avoid October 7 state probe with law amendment, civil probe members claim

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to amend Israel’s Committees of Inquiry Law to form an investigation committee into the October 7 Hamas massacre whose members will be appointed by politicians and not by the Supreme Court Chief Justice, members of Israel’s civilian probe warned in a press conference in Tel Aviv on Tuesday morning.

The civilian probe was formed in July by families of those killed on October 7, representatives from the attacked kibbutzim, and civil society groups. One of the primary goals of the committee is to initiate the foundation of an official state probe, which Netanyahu and other ministers have said will only form once the war is over.

The members of the civil probe committee announced at the conference that after hearing approximately 130 witnesses so far, they will now recess to write an interim report, which will be presented to the public. At least two members of the committee, including its chairperson, retired judge Varda Alsheikh, said that the findings were “alarming,” and all of them criticized the government for its attempt to evade responsibility.

A National Committee of Inquiry, referred to here as a “state probe,” is the most powerful probe in Israel’s legal system and the only type of probe that operates completely independent of the political echelon. Its members are appointed by the Chief Justice, and it has the power to subpoena witnesses and make personal recommendations regarding individuals. The other types of probes are government-appointed and parliament-appointed inquiry committees.

Refusal to form a National Committee of Inquiry

The prime minister’s refusal so far to form a National Committee of Inquiry has been well recorded. However, media adviser Ofer Rozenbaum, who serves as the committee’s chief of staff, claimed in his opening remarks at Tuesday’s press conference that the government is planning to amend the Committees of Inquiry Law at the start of the Knesset’s winter session in late October in order to insert an additional type of committee that will apply to the October 7 massacre, whose members, at least in part, will be chosen by politicians. An attempt to amend the law will likely serve as public admission that the government does not intend to form an apolitical state probe.

Rozenbaum did not provide proof of his claim. In response to a query, the committee’s spokesperson sent a link to an interview on Sunday of Transportation Minister Miri Regev (Likud), in which she said that there was a “problem” with a judge standing at the head of a state probe, as the probe needed to be “fair and just without seeking out people to blame.”

The spokesperson also pointed to an article from Israel Hayom on Friday, in which Mati Tuchfeld reported that the government was planning to form a committee that will include an equal number of members chosen by the coalition and opposition, as well as representatives of civilian groups who were affected by the massacre. The government’s reasoning, according to Tuchfeld, was for the committee to receive “the broadest public trust.”

A spokesperson for Justice Minister Yariv Levin (Likud) said in response to a query that there were “no legislation initiatives at the moment” and that “the prime minister wants to form a probe whose makeup and mandate will be agreed upon by the coalition and opposition.”

The members of the civil probe said that this was unacceptable.

“The testimonies laid before us an alarming and shocking picture on many levels. The testimonies sharpened the urgent need for a National Committee of Inquiry, which is a vital and necessary step to begin the hard and gruesome journey of rehabilitating Israeli society,” Alsheikh said.

Former Beit She’an mayor Rafi Ben Shitrit, father of soldier Alroy Ben Shitrit, who was killed on October 7, added that “any pathetic attempt” to form anything other than a National Committee of Inquiry is “an attempt that will fail.”

“We will not allow this to happen. We will not allow anyone to cover up [their actions], and we will not allow anyone to evade [responsibility],” Ben Shitrit said.

Eyal Eshel, father of soldier Roni Eshel, who was killed on October 7, said that “any attempt to change the National Committee of Inquiry Law by the people who are supposed to be interrogated is an obstruction of justice. The politicians, from the government and opposition, are the ones whose decisions over the past decades need to be examined; under no circumstance should they be the ones to appoint the investigators of tomorrow.”

Other than Alsheikh, Ben Shitrit, and Eshel, the remaining members of the committee are Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yehudit Grisaro, former police commissioner Shlomo Aharonishki, and Maj.-Gen. (res.) Eyal Ben-Reuven.