Who Gets To Investigate October 7? Israel’s Battle Over Accountability
In his report for The Media Line, Gabriel Colodro traces how a dry argument over legal procedures has turned into a fight for Israel’s democratic soul. The government has set Justice Minister Yariv Levin to draft the mandate for an October 7 inquiry and then let the cabinet handpick every commission member—a design that critics say lets the “investigated appoint the investigator.”
Opposition figure Mickey Levy, bereaved families, and legal experts tell Colodro that only a state commission of inquiry, led by a retired Supreme Court justice and empowered to subpoena witnesses and issue binding conclusions, can credibly examine the cascade of political, military, intelligence, and bureaucratic failures that preceded the Hamas assault. They point to earlier landmark probes—from the Agranat and Kahan commissions to the Meron disaster inquiry—as the benchmark for true accountability.
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Coalition lawmakers counter that the judiciary itself must be scrutinized, arguing that a High Court-appointed commission would shy away from examining rulings that may have weakened Israel’s security posture. At stake are not only domestic trust and the balance of power between branches of government, but also Israel’s standing as it navigates the Gaza framework shaped by President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan and endorsed by the UN Security Council.
With the High Court now weighing whether to force the creation of a full state commission, and the opposition vowing to set one up if it returns to power, the battle over who gets to investigate October 7 is only intensifying. Readers who follow Colodro’s full piece will see how a single commission’s design has become a referendum on leadership, legitimacy, and the public’s right to know. It is a story of grief, power, and unfinished reckoning.
