Three Years On: Israel Still Awaits Accountability for October 7 Failures

Nearly three years after the October 7 massacre, Israelis are still waiting for one of the most fundamental obligations any government owes its citizens: a thorough, independent investigation into the worst security failure in the nation’s history.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government informed the High Court of Justice that it would be unable to finalize legislation establishing its proposed political commission to examine the failures surrounding Hamas’s October 7 attack.

In response to petitions challenging its failure to launch the probe, the government stated the legislation would instead be completed after the October 27 elections. It further contended that the court should not rule on the matter or intervene.

The government’s explanation for the delay should be unacceptable to every Israeli.

Considerable debate has taken place — both in the Knesset and across Israel’s streets — over whether a political commission or a state commission of inquiry is the appropriate mechanism. The coalition has consistently opposed a state commission, standing firmly behind its objections to an independent inquiry.

Its first argument has been that investigating the events surrounding October 7 is impractical and inappropriate while Israel remains at war. The second is that Chief Justice Isaac Amit is not viewed as legitimate by many coalition members, raising concerns that any commission he appoints would lack public confidence among a significant segment of the population.

‘Scheduling constraints’ cited for failure to finalize October 7 probe legislation

Even if the government’s objections to a state commission are genuine, they do not explain why it failed to advance its own proposal for a political probe — one specifically designed to address those concerns by replacing Supreme Court appointments to the committee with members selected through a Knesset-led process.

According to the government’s response to the High Court, the legislation could not be finalized due to “scheduling constraints.”

That justification is nothing short of insulting.

Members of this government have spent nearly three years hearing the pleas of bereaved families demanding a commission of inquiry. They have heard them inside the Knesset. They have heard them outside their homes and offices, where grieving relatives have stood for months demanding answers, accountability, and transparency.

Some of those Israelis lost sons, daughters, spouses, parents, and friends on October 7. Others fought for up to 505 days until their loved ones returned from Hamas captivity. All have carried an unimaginable burden while waiting for the state to confront its own failures.

Responding to those families by citing legislative scheduling conflicts is a slap in the face.

The explanation becomes even harder to accept when viewed alongside the coalition’s legislative blitz during the Knesset’s final weeks before its dissolution.

In those weeks, the coalition found time to pass legislation it considered politically essential: a bill preventing the enforcement of draft orders against ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students, legislation enshrining Torah study as a fundamental value in Israel’s Basic Law, a bill restructuring the powers of the attorney general, and sweeping reforms to Israel’s broadcasting sector.

In passing these bills, the government demonstrated that when legislation is deemed urgent by the prime minister, it can move with remarkable speed.

Top security officials replaced since October 7 — except the political echelon

All of Israel’s top security officials in charge on October 7 have since been replaced, some by figures considered close to the prime minister. Eyal Zamir succeeded Herzi Halevi as IDF chief in March 2025, Ronen Bar was replaced by Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency) director David Zini three months later, and Netanyahu’s former military secretary, Roman Gofman, succeeded David Barnea as Mossad chief last month.

Yet the one level of leadership that has not been subjected to meaningful scrutiny is the political echelon itself.

The victims of October 7 deserve better. The bereaved families deserve better. And every Israeli deserves a government that views the need to uncover the truth behind the country’s darkest day as a national obligation rather than a political inconvenience.

Israelis have waited long enough for answers. In this upcoming election campaign, every candidate hoping to form the next government must make clear that establishing a probe into October 7 is their highest priority.

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