From the Liveblog of
Monday, August 25, 2025
State Comptroller’s office says undeterred by IDF’s ‘inappropriate’ attempt to prevent Oct. 7 probe
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
The office of State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman lashed out at the Military Advocate General’s office for seeking to stop his investigation into the failure to prevent Hamas’s October 7, 2023 invasion and atrocities, and says he will continue to advance his audit of the events surrounding the catastrophe.
The Military Advocate General’s office filed an “urgent update” of its petition to the High Court earlier on Monday, objecting to Englman’s probe into the “core issues” of the October 7 failures and saying that investigation of those issues must be reserved for a commission of inquiry.
The State Comptroller’s office calls the military’s update “half-truths,” and says that Englman had stated from the beginning of his probe into the October 7 disaster that he would investigate the core issues which led to the failure to prevent the Hamas assault and atrocities which he labels “the most severe failure in the history of the country.”
The State Comptroller’s office also insists that Englman has always stated he would be examining all relevant parties, be they political, military or civilian.
And Englman’s office maintains that his review of the IDF’s actions is in accordance with an agreement with the IDF, sanctioned by the High Court earlier this year.
“There is nothing new in the announcement issued by the State Comptroller last week, and there is nothing new under the sun in the attempts of the Military Advocate General’s Office to stymie the audit while trying to undermine a ‘gatekeeper’ operating under the Basic Law: the State Comptroller,” says Englman’s office.
“It is inappropriate and it is very severe that those in uniform should get brief and attack gatekeepers, as the Military Advocate General’s office is doing at the moment.
“None of this will deter the State Comptroller from carrying out his duty and providing the citizens of Israel with the answers they have been expecting for some two years.”
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