Rothman calls for indicting Oct. 7 perpetrators next year, but process facing delays

Chairman of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee MK Simcha Rothman says he wants the first indictments of Palestinians suspected of participating in the October 7, 2023, invasion and massacres to be handed down in the first half of 2027, but adds that the pace of the preparatory process needs to be increased because “the Israeli public is waiting, demanding, and entitled” to see the trials begin.

The law establishing a special military tribunal to try Palestinians suspected of committing atrocities on October 7 was only passed in May this year, although prosecutors from the State Attorney’s Office have been interrogating Gazan detainees captured by the security services on October 7, and in its aftermath, and gathering evidence against them since soon after the terrorist assault.

There are thought to be some 300 Palestinians suspected of committing atrocities being held in Israeli detention centers, although the precise number is classified.

During today’s hearing, officials from the Defense Ministry, State Attorney’s Office, Israel Prison Service (IPS) and other agencies detail their preparations, with some noting that various stumbling blocks have slowed down the prosecutorial process.

A dispute over general budget cuts has slowed down the funding of the necessary staff for the IPS, the committee is told, while there have also been delays in staffing positions in the military prosecution, and uncertainty as to whether the 15 prosecutors from the Southern District State Attorney’s Office who have carried out the investigations until now will transfer over to the military prosecution to continue their work.

The necessary approvals for the site where the trials will be held will only be obtained in January 2027, meaning the physical buildings for the trials will likely not be ready until the end of that year.

It also emerges that some of the suspects have yet to be interrogated by prosecutors.

“The very important mission, for the sake of the blood of our sisters and brothers who were murdered, is for the state to make sure it does not let such things pass,” says Rothman, adding that he hopes the pace of the process increases.

“The task that the people of Israel took upon itself, by military or legal means, is important for the sake of justice, for the sake of future generations, and for the sake of the story [of October 7].”