Silman, Karhi set to join panel determining mandate of government’s controversial Oct. 7 inquiry – report

Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi from the ruling Likud party are expected to join the ministerial panel tasked with determining the mandate of the government’s controversial commission of inquiry into failures surrounding the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, according to the Walla news site.

In response to the news of Silman’s potential appointment, the October Council, which is made up of bereaved families and relatives of former hostages, says, “In his usual spin, Netanyahu decided to add Minister Idit Silman to the ministerial team of the ‘cover-up’ committee – the same minister who said: ‘A state commission of inquiry? What does that mean?”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long refused to establish an independent state commission of inquiry, the country’s highest investigative authority, which polls find a large majority of Israelis believe to be necessary.

The panel will be led by Likud Justice Minister Yariv Levin and composed entirely of government ministers, all of whom, except Ze’ev Elkin of Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope party, were in office during the October 7 attack, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.

Other members of the panel will include Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Settlements and National Missions Minister Orit Strock from Religious Zionism; National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu of Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party; and Likud’s Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter, Science and Technology Minister Gila Gamliel, and Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli.