Gallant calls for state inquiry into Oct. 7 that will probe him, Netanyahu and IDF

In a challenge to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called on Thursday for the formation of a state commission of inquiry to investigate the Hamas-led October 7 onslaught and the failures surrounding it.

Despite calls from several opposition lawmakers, Netanyahu has insisted that an investigation determining the culpability of the government cannot take place while the war in Gaza is ongoing. He has also been non-committal on establishing a state commission — the investigatory body with the greatest powers — indicating that other formats may be appropriate.

But Gallant, in an address at a ceremony for graduating IDF officers, with Netanyahu watching in the audience, said the probe should not wait any longer and argued that it should be all-encompassing.

“We need an investigation at the national level that will clarify the facts – a state commission of inquiry,” he declared.

“It must examine all of us: the decision-makers and professionals, the government, the army and security services, this government — and the governments over the last decade that led to the events of October 7,” Gallant said to applause.

“It needs to examine me, the defense minister, it must examine the prime minister, the chief of the staff and the head of the Shin Bet, the army and all the national bodies subordinate to the government,” he continued, receiving the most cheers after mentioning the premier.

Gallant added that the commission needed to examine the intelligence and operational failures that took place on October 7; the management of the war since; and how Hamas managed to build up its forces over the past decade and plan the terror onslaught.

The defense minister is not the first to demand a state commission of inquiry into October 7. In May, National Unity leader Benny Gantz, who was then a member of the emergency government and the since-dissolved war cabinet, made the same demand after the IDF revealed that Netanyahu had received multiple communiques from Military Intelligence in the spring and summer of 2023 warning him about how Israel’s enemies viewed that year’s mass political upheaval, sparked by the government’s efforts to radically overhaul the judiciary.

Last month, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara implored Netanyahu to cease blocking the launch of a state commission of inquiry, explaining that a probe into the war is essential in fending off actions being taken against Jerusalem at international tribunals.

In a letter to Netanyahu, Baharav-Miara argued that a state commission of inquiry that would examine various aspects of the war was the best defense against the genocide accusations Israel is facing at the International Court of Justice, along with the arrest warrants sought by the top prosecutor of the International Criminal Court against the premier and Gallant.

With the mounting pressure, Netanyahu reportedly began looking into Knesset legislation to establish an independent panel headed by a figure of his choosing in June. State commissions of inquiry are typically headed by a retired Supreme Court Justice, and Esther Hayut is the most obvious choice, given that she just recently finished her tenure as president of the top court. But Netanyahu is reportedly vehemently opposed to her appointment, given her outspoken criticism of his government’s judicial overhaul. Accordingly, legislation to circumvent Hayut has reportedly become Netanyahu’s preferred maneuver.

Baharav-Miara warned against this strategy, writing to Netanyahu that “any other existing mechanism [to probe October 7 failures] would not fit the needs and the unique risks that the country is currently facing.”

Gallant’s call was issued on the same day that the IDF released the results of a probe it conducted into the battle of Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7.

The probe found that the army “failed in its mission to protect the residents of Kibbutz Be’eri” largely because it had never prepared or trained for such an event.

The probe found that the army had difficulty building a clear picture of what was happening in Be’eri until the afternoon, despite the local security team providing information on the fighting starting early in the morning. It also found that security authorities did not provide Be’eri with an adequate warning of the attack.

In response to the results of the probe, Be’eri released a statement demanding that those who were responsible for the failures resign and that a state commission of inquiry be formed to deliver more in-depth answers.

Emanuel Fabian and Sam Sokol contributed to this report.