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Protesters gathered at the Knesset on Monday to demand the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the Hamas-led invasion on October 7, 2023, and to protest the politically appointed commission that was being debated at the same time by the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.
Last month, the coalition voted in favor of a preliminary reading of Likud MK Ariel Kallner’s divisive bill to set up a politically appointed probe instead of an independent state commission of inquiry, in a move largely opposed by hostages’ families and the relatives of those murdered on October 7.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes the formation of a state commission and has resisted pressure to do so throughout the more than two years since the deadly Hamas onslaught. He has claimed that, because a state commission is appointed by the judiciary – whose powers his government has sought to curb – it would be biased.
The Constitution Committee debate was largely boycotted by bereaved families and opposition lawmakers.
Instead, they joined dozens of protesters at a number of locations in and near the Knesset, including in another committee room where over 100 bereaved family members, joined by opposition leaders and lawmakers, held an emergency session and established an “alternative committee” in protest.
During the alternative committee session, the October Council, which represents hundreds of bereaved families and which organized the event, announced the establishment of a “Committee for Advancing the Law on a State Commission of Inquiry” into October 7.
“In a fair world, the Knesset should have voted months ago to establish a state commission of inquiry. Instead, members of the ‘government of failure’ are currently debating the promotion of the cover-up committee law, aimed at burying the truth about October 7,” the council said in a statement, as coalition MK Simcha Rothman’s Constitution Committee met to discuss the political inquiry.
Rothman limited the number of people admitted into the committee room due to the large number of protesters in attendance.
“The issue is not anyone’s exclusive property,” he said in a statement at the beginning of the meeting, adding that he would not “permit outbursts intended to disrupt the legislative process” or “organizations that have announced that their goal is to blow up the discussion to do so.”
The Constitution Committee said it approved the participation of one representative from each organization that registered for the discussion, and would admit those who didn’t register in advance if space permitted.
The October Council said that it “refused to participate in the performance and decided to boycott the discussion” by showing how a Knesset committee would operate “in a fair world.”
The group’s alternative committee will be chaired by Rafi Ben Shitrit, whose son, Staff Sgt. Shimon Alroy Ben Shitrit, was killed on October 7, while attempting to fend off Hamas terrorists in southern Israel.
“We will not cooperate with the cover-up committee, nor allow a government whose failures are engraved in the blood of our loved ones to choose the investigators, the questions, or the boundaries of truth,” the Council said.
“A state commission of inquiry is not a political gesture but a moral obligation by the state to its citizens. Anyone preventing it today consciously chooses the side of concealment, fear, and evasion of responsibility. We are here to remind everyone: The truth will be investigated, with or without the cooperation of the cover-up government,” it continued.
Opposition lawmakers also boycotted the Constitution Committee meeting and attended the alternative session.
“The people sitting in the room next to us are not the investigators — they are the ones being investigated. The opposition will not cooperate with this,” said Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid, flanked by Einav Zangauker, the mother of released hostage Matan Zangauker.
Democrats chair Yair Golan said, “The Israeli government does not want to investigate and does not intend to investigate. And if it does investigate, it will be a false investigation and a national disaster.”
Democrats MK Gilad Kariv, a member of the Constitution Committee, called the government’s proposed commission “political whitewashing” intended to obscure its responsibility for the attacks.
“Ariel Kallner, who said in 2018 that ‘we have a strategic interest in Hamas ruling Gaza,’ has good reason to sabotage a state commission of inquiry. The opposition will not lend a hand to this charade,” Kariv said.
In addition to the alternative committee, bereaved families held photos of their loved ones, as well as and photos of hostages abducted alive and killed in captivity, in a silent vigil outside the room at the Knesset where the Constitution Committee was discussing the bill.
Mostly uniform committee
Amid the boycott by the majority of bereaved families and opposition lawmakers, the Constitution Committee’s discussion on the politically appointed probe was attended only by coalition lawmakers and about 10 members of bereaved families who supported the probe.
Rothman said that he felt “uncomfortable that one side is represented here and another is not,” but he added that “anyone who registered could have entered the discussion.”
Likud MK Kallner, who proposed the bill, said that he had met with “families of all kinds and views” and that he was willing to establish a committee “in which every family feels that someone is asking the questions that burn inside them. My hand is extended.”
The few bereaved family members who attended the committee session were part of the Law and Justice Forum, which represents a small number of bereaved families who support the government’s political probe due to their distrust of the judicial system, in contrast with the majority of families, who argue that the government cannot investigate itself.
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