Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu railed against his critics and accused the media of working with the “deep state” as he rejected the establishment of a court-appointed inquiry into the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks.
In a speech at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, Netanyahu, without providing any evidence, suggested the findings would be “predetermined” and told lawmakers it was “important and crucial to investigate in depth the events of Oct. 7 and what led up to it,” but thought a court-led probe would be biased.
“What do you think? That we’re children?” he shouted into a microphone as some his fellow politicians jeered and shouted at him during Monday night's debate.
Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled in December that Netanyahu’s government should hold a Cabinet hearing on whether to form a state commission of inquiry to investigate the circumstances surrounding the Hamas-led attacks, looking at why the country’s military was unable to prevent the deadly assault.
But it has since agreed to requests from the government to delay updates to the court about its stance on the creation of such an inquiry.
Lawmakers, including former war Cabinet minister Benny Gantz, have long called for a state commission to be set up.
Banging on the podium in the Knesset, Netanyahu acknowledged that the “public demands the truth” about the Hamas attacks and he called for the formation of a commission that would “investigate everything,” including alleged leaks from Cabinet meetings and confidential parliamentary sessions.
He went on to blast the media, accusing news outlets of “full cooperation with the deep state” and of creating “scandals.”
“The cooperation between the bureaucracy in the deep state and the media didn’t work in the United States, and it won’t work here,” he said, aping the rhetoric of President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly referred to the idea that clandestine networks operate within governments, acting to manipulate or control policy.
Netanyahu’s rivals were quick to condemn his comments. Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the events of Oct. 7 would “always belong” to the Israeli prime minister, adding that “there was never a government here that had so many reasons to ask for forgiveness.”
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said the debate reflected a “total disconnect” by a “disastrous government.”
After conducting its own investigation into the deadly attacks, Israel’s military acknowledged last month that it had misjudged Hamas’ intentions and underestimated the militant group’s capabilities and was wholly unprepared for the surprise attack, in which 1,200 people were killed and around 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli officials.
More than 48,000 people have been killed in Israel's assault on Gaza since then, according to health officials in the enclave.
However, many Israelis believe the failures surrounding the attacks extend beyond the military and Netanyahu has faced calls to take responsibility for his country’s apparent lack of preparedness.
At least 65% of Israelis said they believed the most appropriate method to investigate the attacks was a State Commission of Inquiry, according to a recent poll conducted by the Jerusalem-based Viterbi Family Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research.
Surveyed between from Jan. 28 to Feb. 2, just 17% of the 604 Jewish and 151 Arab respondents said they supported the idea of a government-appointed commission of inquiry.
Netanyahu has nonetheless maintained that he will answer difficult questions, but only after the war that has consumed the Middle East for almost a-year-and-a-half comes to an end.
His outburst came amid growing fears over the future of the fragile ceasefire between his government and Hamas, and as Israel faces mounting criticism for halting the entry of aid and goods into the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar doubled down on that decision Tuesday, blaming Hamas for the pause — which came as families across Gaza marked the month of Ramadan — after the militant group refused to accept a proposal to extend the first phase of the ceasefire.
The Trump administration has sought to expedite the delivery of $4 billion in military aid to Israel and reverse a partial arms embargo introduced by the Biden administration.
