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| Al-Aqsa Flood attack on October 7, 2023 |
On Monday evening, the Israeli Knesset approved, in its first reading, a bill to form a commission of inquiry into the "Al-Aqsa Flood" attack on October 7, 2023, in a move that sparked a sharp confrontation between the government and the opposition.
The Israeli opposition boycotted the vote entirely and described the bill as a "political cover-up committee" whose goal was to protect Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies from being held accountable for the biggest defeat in Israel's history.
The bill was passed by a majority of 59 votes from members of the ruling coalition, without the participation of the opposition, as part of an agreement between Netanyahu and the ultra-Orthodox parties, according to what was revealed by the newspaper "Yedioth Ahronoth" and the website "Ynet".
The Hebrew press saw that the approval of the bill does not end the controversy surrounding the investigation into the events of October 7, but rather opens the door to a new phase of political and legal confrontation, in light of the opposition’s pledge to repeal the law as soon as it comes to power, and to form an official independent investigation committee, which threatens to perpetuate the internal division and deepen the political crisis that Israel has been experiencing since the outbreak of the war.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the opposition decided to boycott the vote because it "will not be complicit in a deception aimed at covering up the greatest catastrophe to befall the Jewish people since the Holocaust and preventing a genuine investigation into it."
He added: "In the first month of the next government, we will form a government investigation committee to investigate the October 7 massacre."
For his part, Yisrael Beiteinu party leader Avigdor Lieberman described the project as a "cover-up committee" whose goal is to thwart the discovery of the truth, stressing that the first decision the next government will make will be to form an independent governmental inquiry committee.
As for the head of the "Yeshar" party, Gadi Eisenkot, he accused Netanyahu of seeking to hide the truth, saying: "The one who knows the truth and is afraid of it is the one who forms a political inquiry committee to cover it up and distort it," adding, addressing the Prime Minister: "You are afraid... and that is your right, but publish the full transcripts and let the public know the truth."
For his part, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stressed that any country that does not investigate its failures is doomed to repeat them, considering that a government that refuses to investigate "is leading Israel to new disasters," and pledging to form an official commission of inquiry after the next elections.
The attack was not limited to political parties, but extended to the families of the Israeli dead and prisoners, as the “October Council,” which includes more than 1,500 families of the dead, wounded and prisoners of the October 7 attack, issued a strongly worded statement in which it described the project as a “despicable law,” while it called the proposed committee the “political cover-up committee.”
The council said that the government, which "led Israel blindly into the most horrific massacre in its history since the Holocaust, has lost its legitimacy," adding that no law "will erase the government's responsibility for October 7," and that all those responsible "will be held accountable before a government commission of inquiry sooner or later."
The statement asserted that the coalition members who supported the project "will be remembered in history as those who destroyed and abandoned Israel's security."
According to an analysis published by Hebrew media outlets, the passage of the law represents an attempt by Netanyahu’s government to transfer the investigation file from an official, independent commission of inquiry to a politically oriented commission in which the Knesset participates in its formation, thus giving the coalition greater influence over its composition, which the opposition categorically rejects.
These analyses suggest that the law, even if it completes its legislative process, will not close the file on responsibility for the defeat of October 7th, but will postpone the political explosion until after the next elections, as all opposition parties have pledged to repeal it and establish an official investigation committee as soon as a new government is formed.
The Hebrew press also indicates that the project may become one of the most prominent issues in the upcoming election campaign, increasing the pressure on Netanyahu and his allies, especially with the continued demands of the families of the dead and prisoners and the protests demanding that those responsible for the security and political failures that preceded the attack be revealed.
The bill stipulates the formation of a six-member committee to investigate the events of October 7, the war that followed, and the circumstances that preceded them, granting it broad powers similar to those of official commissions of inquiry. The Knesset shall appoint its members according to a mechanism that requires broad consensus, or through sharing the appointments between the coalition and the opposition if that is not possible.
The bill also allows the committee to continue its work even if half of its members are absent, as long as their number is not less than three. This point has sparked widespread criticism, as the opposition considered it an entry point for the committee to work even if it boycotts it. This reinforced its accusations that the real goal of the bill is not to uncover the truth, but to provide political cover for the government in the face of increasing demands for an official independent investigation into the failures that preceded the October 7 attack.
