Lapid alleges comptroller’s Oct. 7 probe meant to help Netanyahu avoid state inquest
‘An attack on the institution of the state comptroller is dangerous,’ Englman says after opposition chief accuses him of helping PM ‘evade his duty to establish a state commission’
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid on Thursday told representatives of the state comptroller that he did not trust their office’s investigation into Hamas’s October 7 attack, arguing that it served merely as political cover for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rather than a good-faith effort to get to the truth of what happened.
Alleging that State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman had ordered his investigation “only to help Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu evade his duty to establish a state commission of inquiry,” Lapid said that he did “not believe this probe has integrity.”
“Instead of talking about responsibility and objective investigations, it would be proper for the comptroller to make sure that the Prime Minister’s Office does not shred and change protocols, and establish a state investigative committee immediately,” Lapid demanded, according to a statement released by his spokesman following a meeting with the representatives.
“I am a law-abiding person so I will answer your questions, but I believe that this investigation is a show planned by the state comptroller in Netanyahu’s service,” he said at the meeting.
In response, Englman dismissed as unfounded the Yesh Atid leader’s allegation of political bias.
Speaking during a tour of areas of northern Israel that are under repeated rocket attacks from Hezbollah, the comptroller insisted he was examining all aspects of the failures that enabled Hamas to overrun numerous communities and military bases in southern Israel and carry out the atrocities in which some 1,200 people were massacred.
“An attack on the institution of the state comptroller is dangerous and harms [law enforcement] gatekeepers and the democratic fabric of the State of Israel,” said Englman.
“As I have stated more than once, the review is dealing with all echelons — political, civilian, and military. Every officeholder of an agency under the review [of the State Comptroller’s Office] is obligated to fully cooperate with the review, in accordance with the Basic Law [for the State Comptroller],” he continued — adding that “we will continue with the review without fear.”
Englman announced in December he would be conducting a wide-ranging investigation into the multilevel failures leading up to, during, and after the October 7 Hamas invasion and atrocities, including military and intelligence failures. However, this was strongly opposed by several government watchdog groups, which expressed concern that it would interfere with the IDF’s operational capabilities during wartime and might ignore political responsibility for the devastating onslaught.
In June, the High Court ordered Englman to suspend his probe then later allowed it to go forward in a limited manner.
Addressing the Israel Bar Association conference in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Englman excoriated the country’s political and military leaders, accusing them of impeding inquiries into the 7 massacre and refusing to take any responsibility for it.
“There has not been a single person among the elected officials, bearers of public office, military leaders and the security establishment, who has met the proper standard and the expected timeframe when it comes to upholding the value of bearing responsibility,” he asserted.
Englman on Tuesday criticized the defense establishment for trying to stop his review of the IDF’s actions before October 7, saying it has “built high and impassable walls that have led to the stymying of the review,” and that “the Prime Minister’s Office, for its part — even though it has provided material — is still putting up obstacles that are hindering and disrupting the required professional activities.”
In response to Englman’s comments, the IDF issued a statement saying that it respects the office of the comptroller and is open to criticism provided it does not “harm the war effort and the attention of the military leadership — as the High Court ruled.”
The IDF has been conducting its own internal reviews of its actions on October 7, overseen by a special subcommittee under the auspices of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
Lapid has been harshly critical of Netanyahu’s leadership prior to, during and after October 7.
Testifying before an independent civilian commission of inquiry in Tel Aviv last week, the former prime minister claimed that Netanyahu had long ignored “repeated strategic warnings of an eruption of violence and the loss of deterrence.”
The commission, an unofficial probe aimed at “uncovering the truth and preventing the next disaster,” was established in July due to Netanyahu’s refusal to establish an official state commission of inquiry.
Addressing reporters at a rare in-person press conference earlier this week, Netanyahu insisted that he would not support creating such a body while the fighting is still taking place — so that soldiers and officers would not need to worry about finding lawyers.
“We don’t have a pressing need to do it now; we have a pressing need not to do it now. And at the end of the war, we will decide how we are doing it, when we are doing it,” he said.
Lapid’s criticism of Englman on Thursday also drew a harsh response from Housing Minister Yitzchak Goldknopf, the leader of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party.
Attacking Lapid for “unbridled arrogance,” Goldknopf insisted that “as public representatives, we are obligated to maintain and fortify the status of the gatekeepers in the State of Israel, who are entrusted with maintaining law and order.”
“Minister Goldknopf, I was happy to find out that you are ‘obliged to maintain and fortify the status of the gatekeepers in the State of Israel,’” Lapid tweeted in response. “I am convinced that this means that you will not let anyone touch the attorney general, the state attorney, the High Court of Justice, and the legal advisers of all the ministries.”
Goldknopf’s party was a strong supporter of the government’s proposed judicial overhaul, which would have curbed the top court’s power of judicial review, limited the power of ministry legal counsels, and split the role of the attorney general into two positions.
Members of the cabinet have called for firing Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, and Justice Minister Yariv Levin has advocated the revival of his now-suspended judicial overhaul effort.
Lazar Berman contributed to this report.
