Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who has resigned, sent a message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, confirming that all decisions and actions taken during the war will be exposed in a government investigation committee. Gantz stated, "Prime Minister, you were afraid to enter the maneuver. You were late to enter Khan Younis. You hesitated to enter Rafah. You talked about entering the city of Rafah when we insisted on the necessity of first seizing the Philadelphi Corridor and preventing the rearmament of Hamas."
He added, "Everything will be revealed when testimonies are heard before the government investigation committee, which will have to ask - why were you late to enter Rafah and Khan Younis? Why were you afraid, late, and hesitant? What costs did we pay and are still paying?"
Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering changing the law related to the formation of a formal investigation committee, which states that the president of the Supreme Court establishes it. This comes as calls for the formation of an official investigation committee into the security failures that led to Hamas's "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood" on October 7 are growing.
Officials in the Prime Minister's office are currently exploring the possibility of initiating a special law to establish a "special official investigation committee" whose powers would be equivalent to those of a formal investigation committee, but its members and the mandate granted to it would be approved by a "broad consensus" supported by a majority of 80 Knesset members, rather than by the president of the Supreme Court. According to the "Walla" news site, close associates of Netanyahu are also considering the option of conducting a popular referendum to elect the committee members.
"Walla" reported that Netanyahu aims to delay the formation of an official investigation committee until the next general elections. However, if public pressure for a formal investigation committee increases, he will try to thwart it by circumventing the law governing the formation of formal investigation committees.
Netanyahu continues to emphasize his opposition to establishing an official investigation committee at this time, insisting that the failures of October 7 should only be investigated at the end of the war, which he refuses to stop, and whose conclusion remains unclear, claiming that officers and soldiers should not be preoccupied with consulting lawyers.
The Prime Minister is concerned that the president of the Supreme Court may establish an official investigation committee under the current law, potentially chaired by the former Supreme Court president, Esther Hayut. Therefore, he and his close associates are exploring the creation of an alternative investigation system, such as a committee appointed by the president or a parliamentary committee, comprising Knesset members from both the coalition and the opposition, to promote a law for a "special official investigation committee" or to select the president and members of the committee through a public referendum.
During a press conference held last Saturday, he rejected calls for the formation of an official investigation committee, arguing that "there are various proposals on how to investigate the events." Throughout his years in office, Netanyahu has refrained from establishing official investigation committees, while the two formal investigation committees established regarding the Mount Hermon incident and the submarine affair were formed by the previous Bennett-Lapid government.
On Tuesday, during a meeting with the families of recruits who were killed on October 7 and who are demanding a formal investigation committee, Netanyahu stated, "We will investigate all the facts at the end of the war," and he refused to commit to establishing a formal investigation committee. In response, opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote on the "X" platform, "They are afraid because they know the truth. Netanyahu is responsible; Netanyahu is guilty. An official investigation committee will be formed."
