Challenging Netanyahu, Gallant calls for state commission of inquiry to probe Oct. 7

In a challenge to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant calls for the formation of a state commission of inquiry to investigate the Hamas-led October 7 massacre and failures surrounding it.

“It must examine all of us: the decision-makers and professionals, the government, the army and security services, this government — and the governments over the last decade that led to the events of October 7,” Gallant says to applause at the graduation ceremony for IDF officers. “It needs to examine me, the defense minister, it must examine the prime minister, the chief of the staff and the head of the Shin bet, the army and all the national bodies subordinate to the government.”

He continues: “This commission of inquiry must examine the intelligence and operational failures of the events of October 7, deal with the process of managing the war, delve into the building of Hamas’s forces over the last decade, beginning with the formulation of the Hamas plan to invade the communities of the south and up to the errors made in assessing the enemy’s capabilities and in warning of its intentions, culminating in October 7.”