Father of soldier slain on Oct. 7 demands state inquiry: ‘We need to look in the mirror’

Eyal Eshel, whose surveillance soldier daughter Roni was killed in the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023, accuses the government of “peddling pathetic politics” instead of forming a state commission of inquiry into the security debacle.

“As though flags can hide blood… as though slogans can hide the truth,” Eshel tells the 200-odd crowd gathered for the weekly anti-government protest at Tel Aviv’s Habima Square.

He slams the reported dismissal of concerns raised by “holy” surveillance soldiers that Hamas is rebuilding itself in Gaza. IDF officers had similarly reportedly dismissed the concerns of surveillance soldiers before Hamas invaded.

“Israel today is in the hardest place, against the whole world. But the truth is that the first place we need to look isn’t the world — we need to look in the mirror,” Eshel says. “A country that doesn’t investigate the biggest disaster in its history won’t be able to mend.”

“There will be a state commission of inquiry — sharp, incisive and painful — until truth will out,” he says.

איל אשל, אביה של התצפיתנית רוני שנפלה במחנה נחל עוז ב-7.10, בהפגנה בכיכר הבימה בתל אביב למען הקמת ועדת חקירה ממלכתית: "ועדת חקירה תקום ותהיה חריפה, כואבת ונוקבת עד שהאמת תצא לאור, עד שהמדינה הזו תתחיל סוף סוף להקשיב למי שמנסים באמת להגן עליה"@YoavBorowitz pic.twitter.com/LWRc7oovRk

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) August 15, 2026

Speaking after Eshel, former Tel Aviv District police chief Yossi Sedbon rails against the government over its alleged corruption, contempt for the judiciary, personal ties to criminals, effort to enshrine the Haredi exemption from military service, and failure to combat soaring violent crime that has rocked Arab communities.

The crowd applauds as Sedbon praises erstwhile MK Yoav Segalovitz, also formerly a senior police officer, for his “personal, brave decision” to possibly run in the October 27 election with traditionalist Arab party Ra’am.

“He sees the Arabs of Israel as part of our country’s public,” says Sedbon to further applause.

Sedbon adds that responsibility for law enforcement failures under National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir “doesn’t lie with the minister or with police, but primarily with the prime minister who appointed incompetent person to the position” of minister responsible for police.