Since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, one thing has remained constant with Benjamin Netanyahu: a refusal to acknowledge any personal responsibility for the massacre. Yet Netanyahu has served as prime minister for more than 17 years – longer than anyone else. He played a central role in shaping Israel’s policy toward Hamas, notably allowing the Islamist group to remain in Gaza, which politically and geographically divided the Palestinian national movement. He never believed Hamas was capable of launching such an offensive.

Netanyahu has consistently rejected the creation of a government commission of inquiry, a mechanism permitted under a 1968 Israeli law that allows the president of the Supreme Court to appoint an independent body to investigate major government failures. Instead, he welcomed a bill introduced by Ariel Kallner, a member of his Likud party, to establish a “special state commission of inquiry.”

Under this proposal, a majority of 80 out of 120 Knesset members would be required to appoint a six-member commission and its chair. If the process stalls, or if the opposition boycotts the process – as it has already promised to do – Knesset speaker Amir Ohana, also of Likud, will unilaterally select all commission members.

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