By Pesach Benson • August 19, 2026
Jerusalem, 19 August, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Israel’s attorney general is urging the country’s next government to decide whether to establish a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 attack, arguing that the current government has waited too long to act.
In a submission to the High Court of Justice on Wednesday, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said a state commission of inquiry remains “clearly the most appropriate legal tool” for examining the Hamas-led attack and the ensuing war.
Scenes of destruction at Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 30, 2024, more than one year after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. Photo by Sharon Leibel/TPS-IL
But with elections scheduled for Oct. 27, she said the decision should be left to the government that emerges from the vote.
“Since so much time has passed, and elections are approaching, I propose allowing the next government to address the issue and make a decision on the matter,” she wrote.
Around 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreign nationals were taken captive by Hamas during the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. Most were freed in a series of exchanges with Hamas as part of a ceasefire.
Baharav-Miara also criticized the government for its prolonged inaction, noting that “two years and 10 months” have passed since the war began without a decision.
She warned that the delay itself could undermine a future investigation, causing “evidentiary damage” and reducing its effectiveness.
A state commission of inquiry has broad investigative powers, including the ability to summon witnesses and obtain evidence. Its members are appointed through the judiciary, and its recommendations are not legally binding on the government. The government has proposed an alternative committee whose members would be politically appointed. The opposition has boycotted Knesset proceedings related to that proposal.
The Israel Defense Forces have released a series of detailed internal probes examining how roughly 5,000 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists were able to storm Israeli communities and overrun military positions. The military probes address operational, intelligence and command issues, but not decisions made by the political leadership.
Israel’s most recent state commission of inquiry examined the deaths of 45 people in a 2021 stampede at Mount Meron. In 2024, the commission held Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally responsible for the disaster.
