Netanyahu was accused of shirking responsibility

Tensions are escalating among Israel’s political and military elite over responsibility for the failures behind the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused of deflecting responsibility.

Weeks of protests against Netanyahu’s leadership of the ensuing two-year war in Gaza and demands for the return of hostages have become emblematic of the anger simmering in parts of Israeli society over how the attack and its aftermath have been handled.

Much of the Israeli public has been calling—in vain—for an independent investigation into the events leading up to the 2023 Hamas attack that left 1,221 dead.

Polls show that more than 70 percent of Israelis want a state commission of inquiry, which has been set up in the past to investigate major failures at the state level.

It was established after the October 1973 Arab-Israeli war that led to the resignation of Prime Minister Golda Meir in June 1974. The decision to create a commission rests with the government, but its members must be appointed by the chief justice.

Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition government accused the court of political bias. More than two years after the Hamas attack, no such inquiry has been held, and Netanyahu once again rejected the idea in parliament on November 10 — accusing the opposition of seeking to turn it into a “political tool”.

Netanyahu is no stranger to the art of political survival. The 76-year-old is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, having spent more than 18 years in the post over three terms since 1996. “Netanyahu doesn’t take responsibility for anything: there’s always someone to blame,” said Yossi Mekelberg, a Middle East expert at London-based think-tank Chatham House.

“The idea that after these two years, there is no investigation, and he tried to get away with it – most Israelis will not accept it,” he told AFP.

Israel’s military announced Sunday the dismissal of three generals and disciplinary action against several other senior officers over their failure to prevent the October 2023 attack.

The move came two weeks after the release of a report into the military’s internal investigations into the October 7 attacks. Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Israel’s top military chief, appointed an independent panel of experts to undertake the review.

Presenting his findings on November 10, Zamir called for a wider “systemic investigation” to learn lessons from the October 7 attack. According to Israeli media, the remarks were seen as a betrayal by Netanyahu, for whom Zamir had served as a military adviser.

On Monday, Defense Secretary Israel Katz announced that he had commissioned a review of the commission’s work. The decision was quickly described as a “puzzle” by Zamir.

The military “is the only body in the country that has thoroughly investigated its own failures and taken responsibility for them,” a military statement on behalf of Zamir said.

“If further scrutiny is required to complete the picture, it must take the form of an external, objective and independent commission,” he added.