Israel 's top court on Thursday examined petitions seeking to force the government to establish a state commission of inquiry into the failures that led to Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack.
The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long refused to establish such a commission, the likes of which Israel has commonly set up in the past to investigate major state-level failings.
According to polls, a large number of Israelis across the political spectrum support the establishment of such an investigation to determine who is responsible for the authorities' failure to prevent the deadliest-ever attack on Israel.
The decision to create a state commission rests with the government, but its members must be appointed by the president of the supreme court.
Netanyahu's ruling coalition, one of the most right-wing in the country's history, has accused the court of political bias.
"This honourable court has no authority to compel the government," the government's lawyer Michael Rabello said in front of the supreme court judges. Separate inquiry Netanyahu is resisting the establishment of a state commission of inquiry until the multi-front war triggered by Hamas's October 7 attack ends.
His government has tried to counteract public calls with a bill introduced by Netanyahu's Likud party to create a "special state commission of inquiry".
The members of this alternative commission would in theory be chosen half by coalition and half by opposition lawmakers, but if the opposition refuses to cooperate, power to appoint members would ultimately be given to the parliamentary speaker -- effectively handing control to the governing coalition.
The government and lawmakers from Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party have regularly asserted that this commission would be independent.
Several NGOs including the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, as well a group of citizens petitioned the high court to challenge the bill that would create this special commission.
Netanyahu plans to lead his party's list in the general election that must be held no later than the end of October, as Israel faces a climate of deep polarisation.
Hamas' October 7 attack killed more than 1,221 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data.
On the day of the attack, 251 people, including 44 who were already dead, were taken to Gaza as hostages.
Of the 207 taken alive, 41 died or were killed in captivity. The others were eventually returned, and the body of the last hostage was repatriated to Israel in January, under a fragile US-brokered ceasefire that came into force in October. (AFP)