Family of hostage slain in Gaza to Knesset panel: Set up Oct. 7 probe instead of advancing ‘irrelevant’ media bill

By Ariela Karmel

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8 December 2025, 1:57 pm

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi at the special panel on a contentious communications bill at the Knesset, December 8, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Esther Buchstav, whose son Yagev Buchshtav, 35, was kidnapped by Hamas from Kibbutz Nirim on October 7, assails the special panel established to advance Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi’s controversial media regulation bill in its opening discussion for spending their time advancing an “irrelevant” bill instead of establishing a state commission of inquiry.

“I see you dealing with a law that isn’t at all relevant to our lives. What’s relevant is to think about how we can heal from October 7, to understand what happened during that day and what has happened since,” she says, speaking before the committee.

“Why were decisions made to abandon hostages in the tunnels? And it’s a fact that this decision was made: My son was abandoned,” Buchstav continues.

In July 2024, the IDF confirmed that Yagev was slain in captivity. His body was recovered on August 19, 2024, and returned to Israel for burial. Master Sgt. Ran Gvili remains the last deceased hostage held in Gaza.

Addressing Karhi directly, Buchstav says, “I want you to look me in the eyes. MK Shlomo Karhi, you spoke with me and promised me that you would do everything [to help], and you haven’t.”

“We don’t know what happened on October 7. There still hasn’t been a state commission of inquiry,” she adds. “This is what you should be dealing with as members of the Knesset, as members of the government.”

The government decided last month to establish its own probe into the failures surrounding the Hamas invasion and massacre on October 7, 2023, rather than set up the state commission of inquiry that is traditionally formed to investigate significant disasters.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long opposed the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the onslaught – the single deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust and the worst disaster in modern Israeli history – despite polls which have consistently indicated a clear majority of Israelis support it, including the families of hostages and those murdered during the attacks.