All opposition party leaders announced on Sunday that they will boycott upcoming Knesset discussions advancing a government bill that aims to establish a politically appointed committee to investigate the failures surrounding the October 7 attacks.
Opposition leaders said the legislation would create a "whitewash committee," allowing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to avoid taking responsibility for failures surrounding the attacks.
“We will not cooperate with a cynical attempt to set up a political committee with one goal: evading and removing responsibility from the October 7 government and from Netanyahu’s own personal failure,” the office of Opposition Leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) said in a statement.
“Only a state commission of inquiry will get to the truth, provide answers to the hard questions, and prevent the next disaster,” the statement added.
The bill, submitted by Likud MK Ariel Kallner, passed a preliminary reading in December. Knesset discussions to advance the bill are slated to begin on Monday for the first time.
The bill seeks to create a new investigative framework that diverges from the traditional independent state commission of inquiry mechanism overseen by the Supreme Court.
A state commission of inquiry is considered the most authoritative and independent investigative mechanism under Israeli law. It operates entirely outside the political echelon, with members appointed by the chief justice of the Supreme Court, and has the power to subpoena witnesses and issue personal recommendations regarding individuals.
Netanyahu has repeatedly spoken out against judicial appointments leading the investigation, amid the ongoing rift between the government and the judiciary.
Under the framework laid out in Kallner’s bill, 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 to be reached in the supermajority vote, the coalition and opposition would each appoint three members for 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 considered highly controversial.
Public, bereaved families, victims of attack, reject Kallner's bill
Calls to establish an independent state commission of inquiry into the events surrounding October 7 have repeatedly been blocked by the political echelon, despite polls showing broad public support for such an investigation.
Bereaved families and victims of the attacks have also pushed for an independent state commission of inquiry, rejecting Kallner's bill.
Members of the October Council, representing hundreds of families affected by the October 7 attacks, welcomed the opposition leaders’ decision to boycott the committee meetings advancing the bill.
“This is a moral, principled, and necessary step in the face of a transparent attempt to erase responsibility and evade the truth,” the group said.
“This is not a struggle between opposition and coalition. It is a struggle of families against a government that is afraid to be investigated, a struggle of citizens against a leadership that is trying to decide who will investigate it, on what, and how,” the October Council added.
Sarah Ben-Nun and Shir Perets contributed to this report.