Civilian probe gives Netanyahu, Gallant, Bennett, and Gantz final chance to testify

The unofficial civilian probe of the events leading up to October 7 sent a warning Tuesday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, former prime minister Naftali Bennett, and National Unity head Benny Gantz, giving them a final chance to testify before the probe committee.

The four have declined to testify before the probe, according to organizers.

"As the state officials who made fateful decisions in recent years, the bereaved families want to hear your ideas on the topic in a direct and detailed way," read the letter.

They were given until November 1 to testify.

Witnesses have gone before the probe

Some 130 witnesses have gone before the probe, according to the letter sent Tuesday to Netanyahu. Among them senior IDF officials, senior officials from previous governments, municipal leaders and civilians.

"The name of the prime minister has come up again and again, alongside other decision makers from the last 20 years," said the letter.

"This shows the great importance of your testimony before the members of the committee.

The committee is also willing to accept the prime minister's testimony in writing, it said.

The prob committee, announced in July, is composed of security and legal experts aiming to investigate the “events before October 7, which formed the foundation for the biggest security failure in the state’s history” and examine the failures of the military and political systems, it said.  

The committee was formed in part to push for the formation of an official state probe, which Israel's government has shot down.

The announcement of the committee came one day after Israel’s coalition struck down a bill to fund a national investigation of the events leading up to October 7. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated an argument in the Knesset plenum that an inquiry before the war is over would hamper Israel’s ability to defeat Hamas.

There has been a public push for a state probe to be formed, including from bereaved families seeking answers. The failure to form such a probe has been touted as one of the failures of the state to take proper accountability and responsibility in the wake of October 7.

This failure was highlighted at the family-organized civilian October 7 memorial, held just before an official state ceremony.

Yonatan Shamriz, whose brother hostage Alon Shamriz was shot by IDF forces in Gaza after escaping his Hamas captors, underscored at the ceremony that there must be a state inquiry.

“There is no personal example, no vision, no leadership, no taking responsibility,” he said.

Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said when the civilian committee was announced that a state investigation is necessary. “This commission of inquiry should be objective; it should check all of us – the government, the army, and the security agencies. It needs to check me along with the prime minister and chief of staff,” he said.

When a state probe is appointed, the High Court Chief Justice appoints a National Committee of Investigation and operates independently of the political echelon. In the past years, Netanyahu refrained from forming them over several issues, including the 2021 Meron disaster in which 45 men were crushed to death.

Eliav Breuer contributed to this report.