After Oct. 7, Israel’s Real Inquiry Comes on Election Day
Israel is still living in the long shadow of Oct. 7, 2023—and in this opinion piece, Mark Lavie argues that no commission of inquiry can deliver the kind of closure Israelis are actually seeking. The country can investigate itself for years, he writes, but the decisive verdict on accountability and the next chapter of regional diplomacy will come from voters, not panels.
Lavie notes that polls show roughly three-quarters of Israelis favor an official state commission, while the government’s idea of investigating itself convinces almost no one. Yet he insists the central facts are already out in the open. Unlike 1973, when the Agranat Commission unearthed unknown decisions after the Yom Kippur War, today’s “Gaza fiasco” has been mapped in real time by Israel Defense Forces probes and aggressive Israeli journalism. He points to the concept that “Hamas is deterred,” the vulnerability of the border fence, reliance on electronic sensors later disrupted by drones, and the flow of billions in Qatari funds that helped Hamas build tunnels, stockpile rockets, and train terrorists.
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He also punctures what he calls myths about commissions: They are not rare, their mandates can be politically tailored, and they do not automatically topple governments. Golda Meir’s party even won an election after 1973; public pressure and time did the work, and voters removed Labor only in 1977.
In 2025, he argues, the Israeli military has already taken visible responsibility through resignations. The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not, while Netanyahu counters with claims of major wartime achievements against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran, alongside US support against Iran’s nuclear program.
Bottom line: Elections—set for next October, possibly earlier—will determine whether Israelis credit Netanyahu’s record or reject the failure. For the full argument and historical detail, read Mark Lavie’s complete piece.
