AG tells Netanyahu she won’t defend his refusal to approve state inquiry into Oct. 7
Gali Baharav-Miara sends letter to PM saying government can enlist independent counsel to present its position against High Court petitions demanding commission’s formation
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara informed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that she opposes his position not to establish a state commission of inquiry into the failings leading up to Hamas’s devastating October 7 attack until after the current war ends.
She said her office therefore will not represent the government in petitions to the High Court of Justice that have asked the court to order the government to establish such a commission, but authorized the cabinet to take independent counsel to present its position in the legal proceedings.
In a letter addressed personally to Netanyahu, Baharav-Miara said the events of October 7 were unprecedented in Israel’s history in terms of the severe consequences of the Hamas-led terror onslaught, its far-reaching impact on the country and the general public, and its strategic repercussions.
“My professional opinion… is that because of the extreme circumstances it is critically important that the investigation of the events of the war and learning its lessons should be carried out with total professional independence, through the best and only mechanism available under the law, and totally disconnected from any external influence on the manner in which the investigation is conducted, and it’s results,” the attorney general told Netanyahu.
“A state commission of inquiry is, categorically, the single, dedicated tool that exists under the law that is appropriate for an investigation into the events of the war,” she continued.
Baharav-Miara added that such a commission would also protect Israel from proceedings against the country — and by extension senior government officials — in international courts, which she described as “severe and immediate dangers faced by the state.”
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague has requested arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes he alleges have been committed in Gaza during Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas. The court has yet to decide whether or not to issue the warrants, which have been strongly denounced by Israel.
State commissions of inquiry can either be established by a government resolution or the Knesset’s State Control Committee, and are independent panels whose members are selected by the Supreme Court president from among serving or retired Supreme Court or district court judges.
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, one of the petitioners, described the attorney general’s decision as “dramatic and unprecedented,” and said that it “expresses clear proof to the fact that the government’s [decision to] refrain from establishing a commission of inquiry contravenes the public interest and the principles of law and proper administration.”
Netanyahu has insisted probes into October 7 failures need to wait until the end of the war and has refused to commit to a state commission of inquiry.
