Bereaved families and opposition MKs gathered at the Knesset on Monday in protest as coalition lawmakers convened to advance the government bill that aims to establish a politically-appointed committee to investigate the failures surrounding Hamas’s October 7 attack.
“The people in charge don’t want the answers to come out. That’s why they started this political charade that you’re seeing,” Gil Dickmann, cousin of slain hostage Carmel Gat, told The Jerusalem Post, while he joined the protest at the Knesset.
What the bill is trying to promote is a new investigative framework that diverges from the traditional independent state commission of inquiry mechanism overseen by the Supreme Court.
The first discussion to advance it took place in the Knesset Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee. Dozens of bereaved family members held up signs calling for an independent state commission of inquiry, with many boycotting the panel.
Meanwhile, in a room next door, bereaved relatives, victims of the October 7 massacre, and parents of former hostages gathered in a demonstration.
All opposition party leaders announced on Sunday that they would boycott upcoming Knesset discussions advancing the bill, stating they would not cooperate with it.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) attended the alternative panel, sitting alongside Einav Zangauker, the mother of released hostage Matan Zangauker.
“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,” Lapid told the room.
“In the very first month of the next government, we will establish a state commission of inquiry to ensure this never happens again,” he added.
The Democrats Party leader, Yair Golan, joined the protest in the next-door room as well.
“I am sitting here among you in reverent awe, with you, the bereaved families, and the families of the survivors of captivity. As I look around, I see the immense suffering confined within this room,” he said.
“The demand for a state commission of inquiry is a demand for truth. There is no recovery without recognition of the truth and adherence to the truth,” he added.
Submitted by Likud MK Ariel Kallner, the controversial bill passed a preliminary reading in December and will continue to be advanced in the justice committee. It will still need to pass three readings to become law.
Kallner opened the discussion on the bill, saying that his proposal would allow for there to be “an inquiry committee that will investigate everyone who needs to be investigated and will not cover anything up.”
He criticized opposition members who were boycotting the discussion, stating that “they are not boycotting me, they are boycotting their own people.”
Opposition says bill lets Netanyahu avoid responsibility
Opposition leaders said on Sunday that the legislation would create a “whitewash committee,” allowing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to avoid taking responsibility for failures surrounding the attacks.
The make-up of the bill differs from the traditional state commission of inquiry mechanism set out in the 1968 Commissions of Inquiry Law.
A state commission of inquiry is considered the most authoritative and independent investigative system under Israeli law. It operates entirely outside the political echelon, with members appointed by the Supreme Court’s chief justice, and has the power to subpoena witnesses and issue personal recommendations regarding individuals.
Amid the ongoing rift between the government and the judiciary, Netanyahu has repeatedly spoken out against judicial appointments leading the investigation.
Under the framework laid out in Kallner’s bill proposal, Supreme Court appointments would be replaced by members selected through a Knesset-led process.
The commission would comprise six members, according to the bill. Lawmakers would first be given a limited period to reach an agreement on all appointments in a vote requiring a supermajority of 80 Knesset members.
If no agreement were reached in the supermajority vote, the coalition and the opposition would each appoint three members to the committee.
However, if the opposition refuses to participate, a scenario widely viewed as likely, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana (Likud) would be empowered to select who would be in the opposition’s slots – an aspect of the bill that is considered highly controversial.
Dickmann said that he and fellow bereaved family members were protesting “to make sure that the truth actually comes out.”
“We fear that what this government is trying to do is to form a politically-motivated committee of investigation,” Dickmann told the Post. “Why would the politicians appoint the people who are supposed to be investigating them? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“For Carmel, it’s too late. We’re not going to get her back. But we must know the truth about what happened on October 7 and what led to the decisions that caused her death,” he said.
“Because there were deals on the table and she was supposed to come out [from captivity]. Gat was just a few days from coming out, a few hours from coming out, when the deal collapsed. We don’t really know why. We have to get the answers for this,” Dickmann said.
“The only way that the truth will actually come out is if we all stand together – Right, Left, coalition, and opposition.”
“We stand together, calling for an actual state commission of inquiry,” Dickmann said.