Dec 22, 2025, 3:22 p.mDec 22, 2025, 3:22 p.m
More than two years after the unprecedented massacre by the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas and other extremist groups in Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to refuse an independent investigation into the incidents.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Image: keystone
Instead of setting up a state investigative commission, the 76-year-old supports the appointment of a government commission. A responsible ministerial committee approved a corresponding draft law by a member of the right-wing conservative ruling party Likud, as the news portal “ynet” reported. A preliminary vote on this in Parliament is scheduled for Wednesday.
Criticism from experts, opposition and relatives
The move has been sharply criticized by experts, the opposition and relatives of former hostages and those killed on October 7 as an attempt at a cover-up. Critics accuse Netanyahu and his coalition of failing to take personal responsibility for the political and military failures during the Hamas terror attack.
On October 7, 2023, fighters from the terrorist organization Hamas attacked Jewish families. Image: keystone
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said in a statement that the proposed bill was “full of significant flaws” that made it impossible for investigators to get to the bottom of the events of October 7, 2023 and draw robust conclusions from them.
In their view, the government’s proposal puts political considerations ahead of the principles of an independent and professional investigation. In addition, the draft law in its current version does not meet the requirements for an effective and credible report.
Netanyahu had argued, however, that a state investigative commission did not enjoy the support of the general public.
Opposition leader: Clear conflict of interest
Israeli opposition leader Jair Lapid criticized that there was “no clearer and more serious conflict of interest than that of the head of government on October 7th and his ministers.” A state investigative commission must be set up, “if not now, then in the first week of our government,” he said, with a view to new elections next year.
Israeli opposition leader Jair Lapid.Image: x/@yairlapid
Relatives demand independent clarification
Jonathan Polin, the father of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was murdered in Hamas captivity, has called for an independent investigation, according to “ynet”. In a democracy, state and political decision-makers cannot examine themselves, he explained. This only happens in countries where managers are “afraid of something”.
He also said: “I do not support the establishment of a state commission of inquiry to punish anyone, and not because it would bring back my only son.” It’s more about ensuring that “none of what happened to my son should ever happen again.”
In the massacre on October 7, 2023, around 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 others were abducted to the Gaza Strip. The attack is considered to be the trigger for the two-year war in Gaza. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war began. (sda/dpa)
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