Yedioth: Netanyahu verbally supports investigating the October 7 failures, but has not formed any committee to date.

Tel Aviv - Ofoq News - A report published by Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper revealed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not take any practical step to form a committee to investigate the failures of October 7, despite repeatedly stressing the necessity of investigating and holding those responsible accountable, including him personally.

The report explained that nearly three years after the October 7 attack, no dedicated committee was formed to investigate the events and failures that preceded the attack, even though all the leaders of the security establishment who assumed their positions that day, including former Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy, former head of the Military Intelligence Division Aharon Haliva, former General Security Service chief Ronen Bar, and former Army Minister Yoav Galant, supported the formation of an official investigation committee, while Netanyahu remained the only one among the senior political and security officials at the time who did not supports this option.

The report indicated that the idea of ​​forming an official investigation committee received widespread support at the beginning of the war, to the point that a number of ministers and members of the Knesset from the Likud Party supported it. But with the passage of time, alternative proposals began to appear, which included a government inspection committee, an equal investigation committee between the coalition and the opposition, and a national investigation committee, while the opposition rejected these alternatives and insisted on forming an official investigation committee in accordance with the law.

Netanyahu also rejected a settlement proposed by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, which stipulates the formation of an official investigation committee in cooperation between Supreme Court Chief Justice Yitzhak Amit and his deputy, conservative Judge Noam Solberg.

Although these proposals have been put forward, none of them have yet led to the formation of an actual committee. A draft law to establish an “official national” investigation committee passed its first reading in the Knesset in July 2026, but the legislation procedures were not completed, despite the government coalition having a clear majority.

Promises to investigate after the war ends

On October 25, 2023, less than three weeks after the October 7 attack, Netanyahu said that “the failure will be examined to the end, and everyone will have to provide answers, and me too,” describing that day as “a black day in our history.”

But Netanyahu linked the investigation to the end of the war, without specifying a clear date for that, a position he repeated in his subsequent statements. In January 2024, he said that investigations and examinations should be conducted after the end of the war, not during it, justifying this by not wanting commanders and officers to be busy searching for lawyers during the fighting.

He added at the time that the government would decide on the investigation at the appropriate time, not its affiliated parties. According to the report, Netanyahu did not commit to forming an official investigation committee, but rather stressed that determining the investigation mechanism is up to the government.

According to Israeli law, the government decides to establish an official investigation committee, while the President of the Supreme Court appoints its members.

Search for an alternative mechanism

With the passage of time, the dispute was no longer limited to the date and type of the investigation committee, but rather extended to the party that would determine its composition and members.

During 2024, members of the government coalition put forward proposals to establish alternative committees, including a government committee or a committee formed by consensus between the coalition and the opposition, but the opposition rejected these formulas and insisted on an official investigation committee.

In July 2024, Netanyahu's office discussed alternatives to the official committee, including a mechanism that enjoys broad consensus or a special committee. A final, binding plan was not presented to the public at the time, but the report indicated that the proposals were intended, in practice, to bypass the role of Chief Justice Yitzhak Amit in appointing members of the committee.

In December 2024, the state, in response to petitions submitted to the Supreme Court demanding the formation of an official investigative committee, said that the court did not have the authority to oblige the government to establish a committee of this type.

Netanyahu: I do not want a committee whose results are known in advance

In March 2025, Netanyahu said during a debate in the Knesset that an in-depth investigation into the events of October 7 and their predecessors was “important and necessary,” but he called for an “objective, balanced, and independent” investigation committee.

He added that he does not want “an investigation committee whose conclusions are known in advance,” in a position that reflects his reservations about the official investigation committee, according to the report.

The report indicated that Netanyahu sought, through these statements, to cast doubt in advance on the legitimacy of the official investigation committee, fearing that it would end up holding him responsible for the failures, if it was formed and headed by members appointed by the President of the Supreme Court.

In the summer of 2025, after the government informed the Supreme Court that it did not intend to form an official investigative committee at that stage, Netanyahu reiterated his position during a closed session of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee.

He said he was still trying to understand what happened, adding: “I have begun internal investigations, and I am trying to understand how they got in here wearing slippers and carrying Kalashnikov rifles, with almost nothing force. How could this happen? I demand answers, and I need answers.”

In response to criticism for not forming a committee, Netanyahu acknowledged that the government has the authority to establish a government investigation committee, but he said: “I could have formed a government investigation committee yesterday, but there is no public confidence in it.”

On the other hand, he proposed a formula based on forming a committee whose members would be distributed equally between the coalition and the opposition, saying that the committee should consist of 50% of the coalition and 50% of the opposition. He repeatedly described it as a “people’s committee,” even though, according to the report, opinion polls showed that a majority of the public supports the formation of an official investigation committee.

He promised to appear before the committee first

In November 2025, Netanyahu presented his position again before the Knesset, saying, “The question is not only what we are achieving, but rather the decisive question is who is actually investigating the truth.”

He claimed that large sectors of the public will not accept a committee whose composition is determined according to the existing mechanism, stressing that his government wants to form an investigation committee into the events of October 7 that is balanced and enjoys the greatest possible amount of public confidence.

Netanyahu cited the US investigation committee into the September 11 attacks as a model in which Republicans and Democrats cooperated to form the committee. He said that he wanted a committee that represented all or most of society’s segments, pledging: “I will be the first to appear before it and answer every question.”

In December 2025, a draft law was introduced to form a special official investigation committee, and then a legislative path was crystallized to establish an “official national” investigation committee. In February 2026, Netanyahu said that the State Comptroller’s examination does not constitute an alternative to an investigation committee, and called for advancing the proposal of an equal national committee, renewing his pledge to appear before it and answer questions.

The bill passed its first reading in the Knesset in July 2026, just before the Knesset was dissolved. The report concluded that the common denominator between Netanyahu’s statements from the beginning of the war until today is that he did not back down from saying the necessity of investigating the failures of October 7, but his pledge to conduct the investigation did not turn into forming a committee on the ground.

The Submarine Commission precedent and the Meron disaster

The report made clear that the issue of investigating the October 7 failures will remain a political and popular test, especially with the approaching elections for the twenty-sixth Knesset, scheduled in less than three weeks, according to what was stated in the report.

While Netanyahu's camp does not intend to form an official investigation committee into the events of October 7, the leaders of the camp opposing him, led by Gadi Eisenkot, pledge that forming an official investigation committee in accordance with the law will be one of the first decisions the government will take if it gains the public's confidence.

The report indicated that the formation of a committee by a new government to investigate failures or events that occurred during the term of the previous government is not a precedent in Israel. In June 2021, the government headed by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid agreed, during its first session, to form an official investigation committee into the Mount Meron disaster, in which 45 people were killed, only 52 days after it occurred during the term of the Netanyahu government.

In January 2022, the same government also agreed to form an official investigative committee to examine the issue of submarines and warships, based on a proposal made by then Army Minister Benny Gantz.