From the Liveblog of
Monday, January 19, 2026
Netanyahu rejects October 7 state inquiry, claims he has ‘nothing to hide’
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeats his argument that only a political commission of inquiry into October 7 will be accepted by the majority of Israelis, despite polling showing otherwise.
“I don’t have anything to hide,” he says, stressing that he was himself questioned by the state comptroller for hours on the failures surrounding October 7.
“Who didn’t show up to the comptroller?” he asks. “The former Shin Bet director, the former IDF chief of staff, the former head of military intelligence. I showed up.”
Netanyahu accuses Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara of blocking the investigation into the truth of October 7 by stopping the comptroller’s inquiry and the investigation into the IDF Military Advocate General.
Last month the High Court ordered the comptroller to freeze his October 7 inquiry amid petitions calling for it to be halted, alleging “substantive flaws” in Matanyahu Englman’s information-gathering processes.
Netanyahu also dismisses the investigations into the leak of classified information to the Bild newspaper and into Qatargate, saying that their only goal is to topple the government.
The Times of Israel Community.