Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara delivered a blistering rebuke of the government this week, asserting that the cabinet’s refusal to establish a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 Hamas-led attack is causing severe and ongoing harm to the ability to uncover the truth about the failures that preceded Israel’s deadliest day.
In a written position submitted to the High Court of Justice on Monday, the attorney-general warned that the government’s inaction has effectively frozen the launch of any professional, independent investigation. She urged the court to set the pending petitions for a substantive hearing rather than allow continued delay.
“The government is causing serious damage to the possibility of reaching the truth regarding the events of October 7,” the position read. It argued that the absence of a state commission of inquiry is preventing the initiation of a credible and comprehensive probe.
According to the attorney-general’s filing, this inquiry structure was not merely one option among many, but the only investigative framework capable of examining the full scope of political, military, and intelligence failures that unfolded before and during the attack.
In the filing, the A-G stressed that such a commission, established under the Commissions of Inquiry Law, is uniquely empowered to compel testimony, obtain classified materials, and ensure institutional independence – safeguards that, she argued, are absent from government-appointed or internally led investigations.
The dispute centers on the government’s rejection of this statutory mechanism in favor of a politically appointed apparatus and piecemeal internal probes.
Baharav-Miara cautioned that these alternatives lack both public legitimacy and structural independence, and warned that continued reliance on them risks entrenching factual gaps, conflicting narratives, and irreversible evidentiary loss over time.
Baharav-Miara rejects govt. decision
In its response to the High Court’s conditional order issued in November, which demanded that the government explain why it has not formed a state commission of inquiry, the cabinet argued that the judiciary lacks the authority to compel the government to form such a commission.
The government’s legal position maintains that the decision to establish a state commission lies at the level of executive discretion under the Commissions of Inquiry Law, and that judicial intervention would violate the principle of separation of powers.
Sharply rejecting this interpretation, the attorney-general emphasized in her filing that while the formal authority to establish a commission rests with the government, the court is empowered to review whether the government’s refusal is reasonable, particularly where fundamental public interests are at stake.
She warned that a prolonged delay without a clear alternative capable of meeting the same standards of independence and effectiveness may itself constitute an unreasonable exercise of discretion.
The government has also argued that Israel’s ongoing state of war – including active military operations and hostage negotiations – militates against launching a full statutory inquiry at this stage.
Baharav-Miara countered that position as well, writing that the passage of time without an independent investigative framework poses its own risks, including the erosion of evidence and the entrenchment of institutional self-investigation.
The government’s stance mirrors its recent conduct in the Knesset, where the coalition last month advanced a politically selected inquiry panel to examine the October 7 failures. That proposal passed a preliminary vote in the plenum, drawing protests from bereaved families and members of the October Council, who described it as a watered-down alternative designed to preserve government control over the inquiry’s mandate and personnel.
Opposition lawmakers, civil society organizations, and families of victims have echoed the attorney-general’s concerns, warning that delaying or diluting the investigation risks shielding decision-makers from accountability for lapses in intelligence, preparedness, and response.
Public opinion polls have consistently shown broad support for a state commission of inquiry modeled on others that were established after previous national crises, adding to the mounting pressure on the government to reverse course.
The petitions remain pending before the High Court, which is expected to decide whether to press the government to establish a state commission of inquiry or accept its claim of exclusive executive discretion. This ruling could shape Israel’s reckoning with October 7 for years to come.