Netanyahu testimony paused as bereaved families enter courtroom, demand Oct. 7 state commission of inquiry

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s testimony in his criminal trial is delayed for several minutes while bereaved parents whose children were killed during the war in Gaza or were murdered on October 7 enter the courtroom and court security guards try to remove them.

Some of the bereaved parents reportedly entered the courtroom with signs apparently demanding a state commission of inquiry into the failings surrounding the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack, and court security guards sought to eject them.

Footage from the courtroom shows several parents remonstrating with the guards, insisting there was no reason for them to be removed.

“We are bereaved families who came to sit here with dignity,” says one woman.

“It’s cowardice… The coward has refused to meet with us for two years now,” she continues in apparent reference to Netanyahu.

Anat, the mother of Shani Ben Ami, who was killed trying to flee the Nova festival on October 7, sobs in the courtroom.

The prime minister’s defense attorney Amit Hadad requested that the family members not be ejected, and they were eventually allowed to remain.

Eyal Eshel, the father of Roni Eshel who was one of the surveillance soldiers killed during the October 7 Hamas attack at the Nahal Oz base after having warned of Hamas preparations for an attack, subsequently addressed the judges and said they had not come to create a “provocation” but simply to “look [Netanyahu] in the eyes and request the simplest of things – a state commission of inquiry.”

Netanyahu has steadfastly refused to establish a state commission of inquiry. The government is instead trying to establish its own probe, claiming that a sizable portion of the public would not accept the findings of a traditional independent state probe.

Polls consistently show that a clear majority of Israelis support a state commission.

משפט נתניהו: קבוצה של משפחות שכולות משבעה באוקטובר הגיעה לאולם
משמר בית המשפט ראה שיש שלטים ביד של מישהו מהם (כנראה תמונות)
השלטים לא הונפו
המאבטחים ביקשו את השלטים
קיבלו
ואז ביקשו מחלק מהמשפחות לצאת (לא הבינו שמדובר במשפחות שכולות)
השופטים יצאו לצורך בירור
המשפחות נסערות
אחת… pic.twitter.com/AXMPdQO41Q

— Or-ly Barlev ???? אור-לי ברלב (@orlybarlev) December 10, 2025