Government says High Court has no authority to force state inquiry into October 7

The government argues that the High Court of Justice has no authority to order it to establish a state commission of inquiry into the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, onslaught, asserting that the 1969 Law for Commissions of Inquiry explicitly gives the government, and no other body, including the court, the authority to establish such inquiries.

The argument is made in a response filed by the government to petitions to the High Court asking it to order the government to establish a state commission of inquiry into failures surrounding the October 7 catastrophe. The filing cites a 2021 decision by the High Court to back its argument.

The High Court issued a conditional order against the government on November 19 asking it to explain why it was not establishing a state commission of inquiry, Israel’s highest investigative authority, into the invasion and massacres.

“The authority in this matter belongs to the government and not to any other entity, and this honorable court has ruled in the clearest terms that ‘the establishment of a state committee of inquiry is a matter for the government to answer, not for the court,'” states the government’s response.

The decision it cited was made by the High Court regarding requests by petitioners that it order the government to launch a state commission of inquiry into the Submarine Affair. That scandal revolved around allegations of a massive bribery scheme in Israel’s multi-billion shekel purchase of naval vessels from German shipbuilder Thyssenkrupp.

“It should be said even now that making the conditional order absolute would tear apart the principle of separation of powers and would harm the balance established by the legislature, an injury that, with all due respect, is not within the authority of this honorable court,” the government asserts.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.