Government to discuss option of Oct. 7 state inquiry, days ahead of High Court deadline

The government will on Monday hold a second meeting discussing the potential formation of a state commission of inquiry into the failures leading up to, during and after the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion and atrocities, according to a formal agenda published by the government secretariat and reported by Hebrew media.

The meeting is being held less than a week before a May 11 deadline set by the High Court of Justice in February, which granted a 90-day extension before it must update the court as to its position on establishing such a committee.

The government informed the court in February that the cabinet had held a meeting on the issue, in accordance with a December ruling by the High Court that ordered the government to hold such a hearing within 60 days, and said that the “overwhelming majority” of ministers were of the opinion that the “time was not ripe” to establish a commission.

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 by several cabinet ministers that such a commission would be biased against the government.

Almost 19 months after the onslaught, the government hasn’t said what sort of inquiry it supports, and hasn’t taken any steps to form one.

State commissions of inquiry have been established in the past to look into other military failures, including the events of the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and the Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon in 1982.

A government commission of inquiry, in which the government appoints the members of the commission, was established to investigate the failures of the 2006 Second Lebanon War, although it was granted some of the powers of the more rigorous and independent state commissions, including the power to subpoena witnesses.

Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.