AG slams government’s ‘political’ Oct 7 inquiry: ‘Tailor-made for coalition’s needs’
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara excoriates the government-backed legislation to create a politically appointed commission of inquiry into the failings surrounding the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion and atrocities, describing it as having been “tailor-made” for the “personal” needs of the current government and coalition.
In an opinion published Sunday, Baharav-Miara says the commission of inquiry envisioned in a private member’s bill submitted by Likud MK Ariel Kallner would “politicize” the inquiry; “trample” on professional considerations for getting at the truth; give the commission’s members powers not fitting for them; and would harm the ability of any future, non-politicized, independent commission to properly investigate the October 7 failings.
As such, the attorney general says the severe deficiencies of the bill mean the government should not support the bill.
Kallner’s bill, which is due to be approved by the government tomorrow for support in the Knesset, would create a “state-national” commission of inquiry whose members would be chosen by the coalition and opposition, with almost no criteria for determining the qualifications of its members.
The opposition has vowed to boycott such a panel, insisting instead on a state commission of inquiry. The members of a state commission of inquiry, as defined under current law, are appointed by the Supreme Court president and it is led by a retired justice of the court.
“In front of us is a ‘personal bill,’ that is ‘tailored to the measurements’ of the current government and coalition,” charges Baharav-Miara.
“It is not the result of professional staff work, but rather of political discourse led by the prime minister and in cooperation with the coalition factions,” she continues in her broadside against the proposal, which she says would create a severely compromised commission of inquiry.
“The proposal politicizes the commission, creates a commission for which there is a real concern that political considerations will override the professional considerations essential to investigating the truth, whose investigative powers are not appropriate for such a panel in the absence of a senior judge at its head, and whose mechanism is cumbersome and will thwart the ability to investigate the truth and draw objective conclusions,” she expounds.
Baharav-Miara says that if changes are to be made to commissions of inquiry at all, then the extreme nature of the October 7 invasion and atrocities require finding ways “to reduce the dependence of a state commission on the government” in order to boost public trust, “and for sure do not justify creating a mechanism which will increase dependence on the government and a panel which is a result of political considerations.”
The bill, she continues, is designed to “serve the personal, political interests of the government and its members, while abusing the [legislative] pathway of a private member’s bill” to avoid scrutiny by the Attorney General’s Office.
Government legislation requires approval from the attorney general, whereas private members’ bills do not.
Baharav-Miara also says that a so-called ministerial committee for deciding the mandate and scope of the proposed “state-national” commission, which is set to begin deliberations tomorrow and led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is not operating under any real, legal authority, since such committees only operate in conjunction with a state commission of inquiry established under current law.
“Therefore, there is no place for the government to support the bill, and instead it should act in accordance with existing law and establish a state commission of inquiry,” Baharav-Miara concludes.
