Opposition lawmakers meet bereaved families, slam coalition bill for politically appointed Oct. 7 probe

By Ariela Karmel

You will receive email alerts from this author. Manage alert preferences on your profile page

You will no longer receive email alerts from this author. Manage alert preferences on your profile page

19 January 2026, 10:44 am

Edit

Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

As coalition lawmakers discuss a contentious bill for a politically appointed investigation into October 7, opposition lawmakers attend an emergency gathering of relatives of those killed and abducted on October 7 in a nearby room at the Knesset.

The opposition is boycotting the deliberations on the bill being held by the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.

“The people sitting in the room next to us are not the investigators – they are the ones being investigated. The opposition will not cooperate with this,” says Yesh Atid char Yair Lapid, flanked by Einav Zangauker, the mother of released hostage Matan Zangauker.

“In the first month of the next government, we will establish a state commission of inquiry to ensure that this never happens again,” Lapid says.

Democrats chair Yair Golan says, “The Israeli government does not want to investigate and does not intend to investigate. And if it does investigate, it will be a false investigation and a national disaster.”

“The struggle to establish a state commission of inquiry is part of a broader struggle. If we do not replace the government, Israel’s revival is in danger – an existential danger,” says Golan.

Demonstrators are gathered in a number of locations in and near the Knesset to protest the advancement of a highly controversial bill sponsored by Likud MK Ariel Kallner to set up a politically appointed probe instead of an independent state commission of inquiry, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has opposed for more than two years.

“There is only one type of commission of inquiry in Israeli law: a state commission of inquiry,” says Labor MK Gilad Kariv, a member of the Constitution Committee.

He calls the government’s proposed commission “political whitewashing” intended to obscure their responsibility for the attacks.

“Ariel Kallner, who said in 2018 that “We have a strategic interest in Hamas ruling Gaza,” has good reasons to sabotage a state commission of inquiry. The opposition will not lend a hand to this charade,” Kariv says.