Knesset advances politically-appointed Oct 7 probe in 1st reading, amid opposition boycott

The Knesset votes 59-0 to advance highly controversial legislation establishing a politically-appointed probe into the failures surrounding Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre.

Today’s vote is the bill’s first reading at the plenum. It requires two more readings to pass into law.

Under the bill, the same government that was in power when the attacks took place will have the power to unilaterally appoint the body investigating its own conduct.

Opposition lawmakers boycotted the vote, which was assured passage, with the backing of the ultra-Orthodox parties. The opposition has boycotted the bill throughout the legislative process and has vowed not to cooperate with the proposed political commission.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not take part in the vote.

The legislation will now return to the Knesset Constitution Committee, where it will be prepared for its final two readings, expected to be pushed through next week ahead of the Knesset’s pre-election dissolution.

The proposal, promoted by Likud MK Ariel Kallner, calls for a Knesset supermajority — 80 out of 120 MKs — to appoint a six-member investigative committee and its chairman. If there is no agreement after two weeks, both the opposition and coalition would be allowed to select three committee members each, who would be joined by four supervisory members representing bereaved families.

However, the commission may begin operating as long as at least three members have been appointed, meaning that if the opposition continues to boycott the process, a commission composed solely of coalition appointees could still conduct the inquiry.

The opposition has demanded that an independent state commission of inquiry be appointed. Netanyahu has adamantly refused to establish one, despite overwhelming public support, because its members would be selected by the judiciary, which he claims is biased against him.

The October Council, an anti-government group representing hundreds of bereaved families, survivors and former hostages, accuses the government of advancing the legislation in order to “absolve them of their share of responsibility for the greatest massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”

“This disgraceful bill is not intended to uncover the truth, but to bury it alongside our loved ones,” the group says.

“Moshe Gafni, Aryeh Deri, and Yitzhak Goldknopf — we will pursue you day and night for trading the blood of our loved ones for money,” the statement continues, referring to the leaders of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism and Shas parties, whose reported deal with Netanyahu to promote legislation to shield draft evaders from criminal or financial sanctions enabled the bill to pass. “This is not Judaism, and these are not its values.”