Herzog warns politically appointed Oct. 7 probe may ‘significantly harm’ quest for truth

President reiterates call for a state commission of inquiry at event marking the 10th of Tevet Jewish fast, says probe is necessary if the country wants to rebuild

President Isaac Herzog criticized the government on Tuesday for establishing a politically controlled probe into the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led assault and reiterated his call for a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the massacre.

He made the remarks at a Bible study event marking the 10th of Tevet fast at his residence. The fast commemorates the beginning of the Babylonian siege that led to the destruction of Jerusalem and the First Temple in the 6th century BCE.

“If we truly wish to continue rebuilding, again and again, Jerusalem, the western Negev, the north, ourselves — our entire country — then we must remember that what matters is not ignoring the past, but learning from it and continually improving,” said Herzog.

“To that end, first and foremost, we must conduct a full, thorough and stately investigation, in accordance with existing law — the Law of Commissions of Inquiry — into the horrific disaster of October 7 and the failure and collapse of judgment that led to it,” he said.

“I have repeated this time and again over the past year, and I reiterate this call now,” the president added.

Last week, the coalition voted in favor in a preliminary reading to establish a politically appointed probe into the October 7, 2023, failures instead of a state commission of inquiry, drawing heated protests and condemnations from opposition lawmakers and bereaved families.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies have repeatedly rejected establishing an independent probe into the worst terror attack in the country’s history, arguing that it would be biased against his government, which was in power at the time of the massacre.

The make-up of a state commission of inquiry would be determined by the Supreme Court president and head of the judiciary, which the government does not trust and which it has worked to weaken.

In contrast, the terms of the political probe, proposed by Likud MK Ariel Kallner, would require a Knesset supermajority — 80 out of 120 MKs — to appoint a six-member investigative committee and its chairman.

If no agreement on the panel is reached after two weeks, both the opposition and coalition would be allowed to select three committee members each, who would be joined by four supervisory members representing bereaved families.

The proposal states that if either the coalition or opposition does not cooperate in the process or cannot settle on a candidate, the Knesset speaker will choose one instead — giving the coalition effective control, as opposition figures have pledged to boycott the commission.

Any two members of the committee would be empowered to summon any person or investigate any entity, and all discussions would be broadcast live.

Netanyahu has said that the probe would be required to examine the 1993 Oslo Accords, the 2005 Disengagement from Gaza and the 2023 protest movement against the current government’s judicial overhaul agenda.

The government has insisted that this is the only form of investigation that the public will trust, despite successive polls finding that the majority of the public favors a state commission — either appointed exclusively by Supreme Court President Isaac Amit or jointly with his conservative deputy, Noam Sohlberg.

The government’s refusal to allow for a state commission of inquiry has angered many of the bereaved families whose relatives were killed on October 7 or in captivity in Gaza, as well as many families of former hostages and the ex-captives themselves.

In December, 22 former hostages marked 800 days since their abduction with a letter to Netanyahu demanding that the government either move ahead with a state commission or resign. The letter was also signed by dozens of members of the families of 49 hostages, some of whom were killed in captivity.

Herzog acknowledged these families in his remarks Tuesday, saying that the “pain of citizens, families and communities in Israel is immense.”

“They want answers, and they deserve answers,” he said. “Including political actors as members of the commission — especially in the midst of an election year — could significantly harm this vital process and the public trust in it.”