Coalition bill to establish Oct. 7 probe has line removed calling for it to be ‘full, thorough and independent’

A revised draft of a controversial Likud bill to establish a politically appointed probe into the October 7 failures has had a line removed calling for the proposed probe to be “full, thorough and independent.”

Instead, MK Ariel Kallner’s bill states that the commission would be established in a manner that provides “for the best response to the difficult public dispute surrounding the identity of the body that appoints the committee members, by appointment by consensus or in an equal manner between both sides in the Knesset.”

Asked about the change, Kallner tells the Ynet news site that “the words were not deleted intentionally,” blaming their deletion on a “clerical error.”

However, he also apparently contradicted that statement, saying the new phrasing “is intended to clarify the purpose, which is to provide a response to the public controversy.”

In addition, the latest version of the legislation, which passed its preliminary reading in December, calls to exclude current and former High Court judges, attorney generals, officers over the rank of major general, Shin Bet chiefs and members of the national security cabinet from serving as members of the proposed inquiry.

The legislation is intended to establish a politically-appointed commission rather than an independent state commission of inquiry.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected such a committee because its members are selected by the judiciary, which he claims is biased against him. Netanyahu’s government has engaged in a years-long effort to weaken the court system.

Polls regularly show that most Israelis support a state commission of inquiry.