Deputy Supreme Court chief sets panel to hear petitions demanding Oct. 7 state commission

Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg announces the panel of justices that will hear petitions asking the court, in its capacity as the High Court of Justice, to order the government to establish a state commission of inquiry into the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion and atrocities.

The panel consists of Sohlberg himself, along with Justices David Mintz, Yael Wilner, Ofer Grosskopf, Alex Stein, Chaled Kabub and Yechiel Kasher.

Sohlberg says the composition of the panel was in part determined by the fact that some Supreme Court justices were legally blocked from hearing the petitions for various reasons.

Sohlberg, Mintz, Wilner, Stein and, to some degree, Kasher, are all considered conservatives to varying degrees, while Kabub and Grosskopf are more liberal.

A date is yet to be set for the hearing.

In November, the High Court issued a conditional order requiring the government to justify why it is not establishing a state commission of inquiry.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government have resisted pressure to establish a state commission of inquiry for more than two years since the deadly Hamas onslaught.