Probe into Oct. 7 events could end right-wing rule in Israel, says Israeli official

By Mohamed Hamed

JERUSALEM (AA) - Head of the Israeli National Security Council, Tzachi Hanegbi, asserted that establishing an investigation committee into the events of Oct. 7 would signal the demise of the right-wing governance in Israel, local media reported on Sunday.

Hanegbi, in a recent meeting with political figures from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party, emphasized that the government's probe into the events of Oct. 7 would dismantle the right-wing government, reported the daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

An unnamed official from Netanyahu's office dismissed the call for a government investigation committee as a political move, warning that it could spell the downfall of the Netanyahu-led Likud government, it added.

Another high-ranking official in the office told the daily that “while Netanyahu rarely discusses the establishment of a government investigation committee, he is firmly against its creation."

He stressed that "party members who voiced support for forming a government investigation committee were contacted by the Prime Minister's Office, cautioning that such a move could result in the downfall of the Likud government."

On April 26, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz proposed to the Israeli government the establishment of an official investigation committee to look into the events of Oct. 7.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas which killed some 1,200 people.

Israeli circles are heavily criticizing Netanyahu for failing to anticipate the attack on settlements near the Gaza Strip and for his handling of the issue involving Israeli hostages in Gaza.

More than 36,400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its onslaught nearly eight months ago. The majority of those killed have been women and children, with over 82,600 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid Israel's crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi.