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Tensions are rising in Israel between the political leadership and the military over investigations into October 7, 2023, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused of shirking responsibility for the authorities’ failure to anticipate and prevent the deadliest attack in the country’s history.

Weekly protests, reflecting public anger, bring together thousands of Israelis calling for Netanyahu’s resignation; he has been in power for over 18 years since 1996.

Polls show more than 70% of Israelis want a national inquiry to determine accountability for the failures that allowed the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to breach Gaza’s supposedly inviolable barrier and cause widespread death in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

National inquiries are not uncommon in Israel. One setup after the October 1973 Arab-Israeli war, when Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack, led to Prime Minister Golda Meir’s resignation in 1974.

By law, the government decides whether to establish a state commission, but its members must be appointed by the Supreme Court president, a body Netanyahu and his allies accuse of being inherently hostile to him.

More than two years after the Hamas-initiated war began, no national inquiry has been formed, and Netanyahu again rejected the idea on November 10 in parliament.

“Netanyahu doesn’t take responsibility for anything; it’s always someone else’s fault,” notes Yossi Mekelberg, Middle East expert at London’s Chatham House.

“Political tool”

“The fact that two years later there’s still no inquiry, and he’s trying to evade it, most Israelis won’t accept,” he told AFP.

On Sunday, the military announced several dismissals as part of sanctions against a dozen senior officers for their command responsibilities related to October 7. These measures followed the conclusions of a committee of experts appointed by Chief of Staff General Eyal Zamir.

When presenting the report’s findings on November 10, the same day Netanyahu told parliament he opposed a commission he called a “political tool” in the hands of his opponents, Zamir called for a “systemic investigation” into October 7.

Israeli media reported that Netanyahu perceived these remarks as a betrayal; Zamir had previously served as his military advisor.

On Monday, Defense Minister Israel Katz announced a review of the army’s internal investigations.

Zamir quickly responded, calling the minister’s decision “confusing” and stressing that the military was “the only institution to have thoroughly investigated its own failures and taken responsibility.”

“If further investigation is needed, it should be an external, objective, and independent commission,” also examining political responsibility, he added.

“Yes-man”

Katz is seen by the Israeli public as “a political loyalist, a ‘yes-man’ who rarely deviates from Netanyahu,” says independent analyst Michael Horowitz.

These tensions between politics and the military are not new in Israel, but this conflict “goes beyond personalities,” he told AFP. “It concerns who will take responsibility for October 7 and how that responsibility should be determined.”

For Netanyahu, the issue is settled: no national inquiry, at least not until the war ends. Instead, in mid-November, the government announced the creation of an “independent” commission on October 7… whose members are to be chosen by ministers.

The decision sparked outrage in Israel, and thousands marched in Tel Aviv on Saturday demanding a national inquiry.

“This commission must be objective,” Eliad Shraga, head of the Movement for Government Integrity, told AFP. “It must really determine how such a failure and crisis could occur.”

Facing criticism from the opposition and much of the public, Netanyahu has yet to acknowledge any responsibility for the failures that led to the tragic events of October 2023.

Horowitz says, “He has a clear interest in avoiding any acknowledgment of responsibility [as it] could mean leaving office before or shortly after his term ends.”

Netanyahu has already announced he will run in the next elections, to be held no later than the end of 2026.

AFP