Israeli Ministers Come Out Against Internal Probe of Army's Conduct on October 7 - Israel News - Haaretz.com
Israeli government ministers came out on Thursday against the military's decision to establish a team to investigate the army's conduct during Hamas' October 7 attack and in the period leading up to it.
According to a source familiar with the discussion, during a cabinet meeting on Thursday, Transportation Minister Miri Regev and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir asked Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi if reports about establishing an investigative team were true, to which Halevi replied that "investigations have not begun."
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich then said to the chief of staff, "So you are not denying it." Regev added, "You are not answering me and I want it to be clear. We have quite a few questions about the conduct of the army and what happened, but we keep telling ourselves 'this is not the time, we are at war,' and this is the time you are starting to investigate?"
Ministers Miri Regev, Benny Gantz, alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the Knesset, last week.Credit: Olivier Fitoussi
Halevi clarified that the military holds the authority to decide when to investigate its conduct. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who also attended the meeting, told ministers that he backs Halevi's decision. "That is his job, to probe and investigate. If [he] decides to establish an investigation team, I support him," Gallant said.
Halevi referred to the military's investigation into the accidental killing of three Israeli hostages by IDF soldiers last month, saying "We thought that the investigation of this incident has significant impact on the fighting itself, so in this case we carried out the investigation during the war," he said.
Gallant suggested that the ministers' retorts to Halevi were insulting, to which Ben-Gvir replied that "not every criticism is an insult."
The team slated to investigate the sequence of events leading up to the surprise attack by Hamas will be headed by former defense minister and Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz, alongside Major Generals Aharon Zeevi-Farkash, former head of Israel's Military Intelligence, and former Chief of Southern Command Maj. Gen. Sami Turgeman.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, at the Knesset, last week.Credit: Oren Ben Hakoon
In the meeting, Ben-Gvir attacked the choice of Mofaz and Zeevi-Farkash to lead the team: "Did you put Shaul Mofaz, the defense minister in charge of the [Gaza] disengagement, to investigate? You just let the cat guard the cream." Benny Gantz replied to him: "What does that have to do with it? The IDF is conducting a professional investigation."
Halevi added that the investigation will only deal with the conduct of the army. "This is not about Israel's national policy or strategy, it is a professional investigation by the IDF on the readiness and preparedness of the army," said the chief of staff, adding that it is "intended to examine the military and not the political sphere."
Following the discussion, Smotrich stated that the appointments to the investigation team were "political" and added: "It is permissible and even desirable to ask the army questions and also to criticize it. The attempts to prevent it are undemocratic and especially very dangerous. This is the first lesson from the first investigation of October 7."