Opposition MKs and activist groups representing those affected by the October 7 massacre denounced the list of ministers named as forming the independent ministerial committee to investigate the handling of the Hamas terror attack.
The committee will be chaired by Yariv Levin (Likud), who is the deputy prime minister, justice minister, and interior minister, with members including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionist Party) and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir (Otzma Yehudit).
Other members include Agriculture and Raw Food Security Minister Avi Dichter (Likud), Innovation, Science, and Technology Minister Gila Gamliel (Likud), National Missions Minister Orit Strock (RZP), Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu (Otzma Yehudit), and Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli (Likud).
Opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) listed alleged failings of each of the ministers named, including “the minister whose coup led to the neglect of security, the minister who proposed dropping an atomic bomb on Gaza, the minister who announced that it was “just and moral” to starve children, the minister who abused the hostages, and the minister who said that the hostages should not be taken into account.”
“These are the ministers that Netanyahu appointed to whitewash his guilt and hide his responsibility for the October 7 massacre,” Lapid accused.
“It won’t help them. They have no moral or legal authority to investigate themselves. Our government will establish a state investigation committee in the first month [after being elected],” he concluded.
The Democrats leader Yair Golan commented on each of the committee members appointed.
He called Levin the one who is “leading the coup and crushing democracy” and Smotrich “the one who declared, ‘Hamas is an asset.’”
He also called Ben-Gvir a “criminal Kahanist who is a convicted supporter of terrorism.”
October Council: Gov't is fighting against bereaved families instead of fighting for Israel's future
The October Council, made up of hundreds of families affected by the October 7 Hamas attacks, also denounced the committee’s membership.
“Instead of examining, investigating, and correcting, the Israeli government chooses time and again to continue the cover-up and abandonment. Instead of fighting for the future of the State of Israel, the Israeli government is fighting against the bereaved families,” the council stated.
“Eight ministers, who were part of the government directly responsible for the greatest disaster in the history of the State of Israel, are the ones who will determine the investigation’s mandate and later, the investigators and the conclusions,” the council added.
“The list of ministers published, along with the rest of the government ministers, the prime minister, and all the senior officials from various systems, is not the list of the ‘appointers’ of the investigation committee but rather the list of those to be investigated by the state commission of inquiry that will be formed,” it said.
The October Council also called for a large-scale protest in Habima Square, Tel Aviv, on Saturday night to demand “the immediate establishment of a state commission of inquiry,” adding, “Any other move advanced by the government is a spit in the face of the citizens of the State of Israel.”
Hofshi B’Artzenu (Free in Our Homeland) is also coordinating protest activity against the government following the decision that Levin will chair the committee.
“Yariv Levin and his insane obsession with the judicial system, along with a prime minister indicted for crimes, are the ones who led to October 7. Mismanagement, a destructive concept, and an obsession with dismantling the judicial system that divided the nation led to the October 7 massacre,” the group stated.
“Those responsible [for the disaster] cannot appoint [an investigation into the events].”