The High Court of Justice on Monday gave the government about two months to present a framework for investigating the Oct. 7 massacre, saying the failure to establish an inquiry mechanism more than 2.5 years after the attack was “unacceptable.”
The court ordered the government to file an update by July 1 on the framework it has formulated for investigating the events.
“There is no dispute that the events of Oct. 7 must be investigated — thoroughly and in depth,” the court said. “Despite this, more than two and a half years after the grave disaster that befell the entire country on Oct. 7, 2023, the government has yet to establish an appropriate mechanism to investigate the events of the disaster and draw the lessons needed to prevent their recurrence. This state of affairs is unacceptable and raises significant legal difficulty.”
The justices said the court has the authority to review petitions regarding the establishment or nonestablishment of a state commission of inquiry, but noted that the government has broad discretion on the matter and that judicial intervention carries difficulties.
The petitioners, backed by the attorney general, argued that the court should order the government to establish a state commission of inquiry under the Commissions of Inquiry Law, saying it is the only mechanism recognized in law for examining such a severe failure.
The government said it also sees a need to investigate the events and present the findings to the public as soon as possible, but argued that the inquiry should be carried out by a committee created under special legislation and based on broad agreement. It said neither a government review committee nor a state commission of inquiry would win the trust of large parts of the public.
The court said that given the need to begin investigating the events and the government’s broad discretion over how to do so, it would allow the government “an additional period of about two months, in the hope that an appropriate framework for investigating the events will soon be found, one that will receive broad public consent.”
The justices said they were not taking a position on any legislative process or on the content or validity of any legislation that may be advanced. After receiving the government’s update, the court said it would decide how to proceed with the petitions.
First published: 17:19, 04.27.26