State comptroller said aiming to publish first Oct. 7 findings by anniversary
Initial report to only focus on meetings held on night before murderous incursion, immediate response to massacre, Channel 12 says; Englman says network report inaccurate
State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman aims to publish preliminary findings into the state’s and security establishment’s failures in the lead-up to Hamas’s October 7 massacre by the first anniversary of the brutal incursion, according to a Channel 12 report Friday, though the official said the network’s assertions were imprecise.
The first part of Englman’s report is expected to focus on security consultations held on the night of October 6, 2023 and early in the morning of the devastating onslaught, as well as the immediate response to the invasion itself, Channel 12 news reported, without citing sources.
Channel 12 noted that due to the report’s scope, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s role in the missteps would not be the focus of the initial findings set to be released.
Responding to the report, the state comptroller said the network’s claims were inaccurate.
“This is one subject among dozens of future reports that will be published, and this subject won’t necessarily be the first. As part of this report, the diaries of the prime minister, the defense minister, and heads of the defense establishment will be examined, from October 6-7,” Englman’s response said.
While Channel 12 said the section relating to the events of October 6-7 would be passed along to auditors by the summer, Englman’s statement said his “initial aim was to publish the smaller reports by this summer, while reports dealing with broader issues, such as the transfer of funds to Hamas, will be published several months later.”
In January, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi penned a letter to Englman asking him to delay his planned probe, claiming it would “divert the attention of the commanders from the fighting, will damage the operational investigation ability, and will not allow drawing necessary lessons to achieve the goals of the war.”
That same month, Halevi had reportedly frozen the formation of his outside investigative team to examine the army’s operational failures in the lead-up to October 7, following intense criticism from right-wing ministers and lawmakers, who were concerned the panel could also assign blame to politicians.
The probe, announced earlier in January, was meant to draw operational conclusions for the military, and not to look into the policies of the political leadership.
On Thursday, the IDF announced it sent out protocols to commanders on how their units are to carry out the internal investigations into the military’s failures in the lead-up to the assault.
The internal investigations were to focus on a timeframe starting from the March 2018 Hamas-led Gaza border riots until October 10, 2023, the point when Israeli troops re-established control of southern Israel following the onslaught.
The findings were expected to be presented to IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi by the beginning of June, according to the military.
Halevi and Englman met at the start of last month committing to joint discussions over their respective probes.
In December, Englman said his office would “leave no stone unturned” in its investigation and would look into all aspects of the “multi-system failures,” including examining those with “personal responsibility” for the “failures on all levels — policy, military and civilian.”
The probe will make up the lion’s share of the agency’s activities over 2024, he said, indicating that it will supersede quarterly reports on other aspects of the state’s functioning.
Among the issues to be reviewed by the comptroller’s office were the conduct of the government’s security cabinet; the conduct of policymakers and the military on October 7 itself; intelligence preparedness before October 7; the defense posture on the Gaza border before the Hamas invasion; the preparedness of the civilian security squads in the Gaza border region before the war; the funding of Hamas; and the lack of equipment for IDF soldiers, he said.
His office was also set to study the government’s actions following the outbreak of war, including how civilians from the south and north were relocated; the evacuation of the injured and the collection and identification of the bodies of the victims; the rights of those harmed in the attack and their ability to access those rights; and the government’s public diplomacy activities.
Thousands of Hamas-led terrorists burst from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel on October 7, carrying out a murderous rampage of unprecedented intensity and breadth. In the hours before the IDF could mount a response, some 1,200 people were killed and 253 people were kidnapped, many of whom remain hostage in Gaza.
