Government asks High Court for 90 more days to decide on Oct. 7 state commission of inquiry

The government requests that the High Court of Justice allow it another 90-day period before it has to give a fresh update on its position on establishing a state commission of inquiry into the failures leading up to, during, and after the October 7 Hamas invasion and atrocities.

Michael Rabello, who is representing the government in the petition instead of the attorney general, tells the court that the cabinet held a hearing on the issue on Sunday, in accordance with a ruling by the High Court in December last year ordering the government to hold such a hearing within 60 days.

“The overwhelming majority of cabinet members believed that the time was not yet ripe to establish a commission of inquiry of any kind due to the state of war we still find ourselves in,” writes Rabello.

“In a comprehensive hearing, different suggestions were raised for how to investigate the events of October 7 after the war is finished,” he adds.

Rabello says Netanyahu gave instructions to hold another hearing on the matter within 90 days, and therefore requests that the court allow the government to update it on its position on the matter after that hearing.

The government has fiercely opposed the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 catastrophe, originally on the grounds that such an inquiry could not be conducted while Israel was at war, but increasingly due to accusations of several cabinet ministers that the Supreme Court president cannot be trusted to appoint a fair-minded judge or retired judge to head the panel.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, one of the petitioners to the High Court demanding a state commission of inquiry, described the cabinet meeting on Sunday as “a new pinnacle in shirking responsibility and contempt for the public.”