“The purpose of the proposed law is to bring about a full, thorough, and independent investigation of the events of the… October 7 massacre” and the wars that followed, an explanatory note to the bill said.
The bill passed its first reading in the Knesset, Israel’s 120-seat parliament, with 59 votes in favour and none against or abstaining.
Opposition lawmakers, who want a different kind of commission not appointed by politicians, boycotted the vote.
Under the proposed law, the commission’s six members would be appointed by a two-thirds majority of Knesset members.
In the absence of an agreement, however, three members would be appointed by the ruling coalition and three by opposition lawmakers.
Former hostages or bereaved family members would serve as observers, while the commission’s deliberations would be broadcast to the public, according to the bill.
Likud party lawmaker Ariel Kallner, who initiated the legislation, defended the body’s bipartisan composition.
“Only a commission appointed in an egalitarian manner will allow us both to uncover the truth and maintain the public’s trust. This will be a commission that can investigate any entity that influenced Israel’s security policy at its core,” he said in a statement published by the Knesset.
Opposition figures have said they would boycott a commission appointed by politicians.
In such a scenario, the power to appoint members would ultimately fall to the speaker of parliament, effectively handing control of the process to the governing coalition.
The opposition has long called for the establishment of an independent state commission of inquiry, a mechanism Israel has frequently used to investigate major national failures in the past.
Opinion polls suggest that a majority of Israelis across the political spectrum support such a body conducting the probe.
Members of a state commission of inquiry would be appointed by the president of the Supreme Court, which has long been at odds with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over a range of issues. (AFP)
