Israeli Knesset rejects bill for official inquiry into Oct. 7 Hamas attack

By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Knesset (Israel's parliament) voted on Wednesday evening against a bill to establish an official commission to investigate the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

The bill was rejected by a narrow margin, with 53 members voting against it and 51 in favor.

The proposal was introduced by Knesset member Orit Farkash-Hacohen from the National Camp Party, led by former War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz, according to the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

“Those who can't take responsibility, learn from mistakes, and draw lessons do not deserve to be leaders," Farkash-Hacohen said before the vote.

"The public deserves answers, as do the bereaved families, soldiers, and the families of the kidnapped," she added.

The Knesset's vote led to a polemic between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Gantz on the social media platform X.

“Prime Minister, you were afraid to enter the maneuver and delayed the entry into Khan Younis and hesitated to enter Rafah,” Gantz wrote on X, addressing Netanyahu.

“You talked about Rafah when we insisted on the need to first control the Philadelphi Corridor and prevent a renewed strengthening of Hamas,” he added.

Gantz warned, “Everything will be revealed when the protocols and testimonies are heard by the state commission of inquiry.”

In response, Netanyahu said, “Benny Gantz's fake news again.”

“I took a screenshot, I will mention his delusional post when the protocols are revealed and the public will find out who was looking for excuses to ‘stop the fighting for a year or two’ and who really pushed forward to continue the war until victory,” he added.

- Criticism

Opposition leader Yair Lapid criticized the Knesset's refusal to establish an official commission to investigate the Hamas attack.

“They are afraid of a commission of inquiry. Because they are guilty of the worst disaster in the country's history,” he said on X.

Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected the establishment of a state investigation commission until the Gaza war ends and Hamas is eradicated, according to his statements.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

Nearly 38,800 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and more than 89,100 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio