Netanyahu to attend opposition-called Knesset debate on Oct. 7 state inquiry tomorrow

Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to attend a so-called 40-signature debate in the Knesset tomorrow to discuss the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding Hamas’s onslaught of October 7, 2023.

Such a debate is a Knesset discussion that the opposition can call once a month and that the prime minister is legally obliged to attend. It is usually called to discuss criticism of the government, its policies and legislative agenda.

The debate is an initiative of Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party and is supported by the other opposition factions in the Knesset.

“765 days since the outbreak of the October Seven War, the Israeli government refuses to establish a state investigation committee that will provide answers to the bereaved families who lost what was most precious to them. We will not stop fighting for them,” Yesh Atid says in a statement.

The government has long resisted establishing a state commission of inquiry, with cabinet ministers first arguing that such an investigation was inappropriate during wartime, and later claiming it would not be impartial because its members would be appointed by the liberal Supreme Court President Isaac Amit.

A previous 40-signature debate discussing this issue was held in October.

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