Independent Oct. 7 commission to present findings next week

The independent Civilian Commission of Inquiry investigating the government’s failures on and leading up to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, will release its findings on Tuesday.

In a statement, the civilian probe states that its decision to publish its report comes in response to reports that the government is looking to establish its own “political commission of inquiry.”

In anticipation, members of the independent probe have sent letters to dozens of senior political and military officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding “their response to the findings and serious recommendations that will appear in the commission’s final report.” It set a deadline of Monday at noon.

According to probe official Ofer Rosenbaum, the months-long investigation has found evidence of “numerous and fundamental failures” by both coalition and opposition officials over the course of the past decade.

“We call on [Israel’s] elected officials to reverse their decision to establish a political investigation committee and to respond to the many claims that were brought up before the civil investigative commission. If their response is not received by the time the report is published, the committee will be forced to publish its conclusions without their response,” he adds.

Netanyahu is reportedly mulling the possibility of setting up an alternate “special committee” to probe October 7 in an effort to prevent the establishment of a state commission of inquiry. Netanyahu has previously implied that he viewed a probe of October 7 as a bureaucratic nuisance.

The independent probe was established in July by groups representing survivors and victims of the Hamas massacre in response to Netanyahu’s repeated refusal to establish a government investigation.