The independent civil commission of inquiry into October 7 accuses the Israeli military leadership of failing to protect civilians

The independent commission investigating the attacks carried out by Hamas and other Palestinian factions on October 7, 2023 against Israel has pointed out the members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet and the country’s military leadership for not having taken sufficient measures to guarantee the protection of citizens.

Thus, he has pointed to the different senior officials of the Armed Forces during the last decades, among them Benny Gantz – former head of the Army and Minister of Defense -, of being “responsible” for the failure to avoid the “brutal Hamas attack” more than a year ago.

The commission has thus blamed the former senior officials of the Army and the Government for betting on a smaller Army that “relied on an excess of technology”, something that also affects the former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, the current head of the Forces Armed Forces, Herzi Halevi, and other senior officials, including Netanyahu.

In this sense, he has accused these senior officials of having reduced the presence of Israeli troops on the border with the Gaza Strip and of having allowed “failures in the preparation of the military deployed in bases in the south of the country.”

“Army leaders are also responsible for ignoring all alerts, including those from observers on the ground, and for failing to respond appropriately to failures that occurred during the day, in addition to avoiding an environment of illegality in the communities adjacent to Gaza,” the commission states in its final report.

The commission, headed by Judge Gideon Ginat, has indicated that the military leadership also did not act appropriately when warning of a possible threat the day before, on October 6, and during the morning of the following day. “The military deployed in the area was not properly alerted so that at least they could be prepared,” he stated.

“The Southern Command of the Armed Forces and the Gaza Division failed miserably, to the point that all defense systems collapsed while the soldiers on the ground were abandoned to their fate, without reinforcements for hours,” he lamented.

SYSTEM COLLAPSE

Likewise, the members of the commission have pointed to members of Netanyahu’s Cabinet as “directly responsible” for the “collapse of the system” after that day in which 1,200 people died and nearly 250 were kidnapped.

After hearing the testimonies of more than a hundred witnesses over the last four months, the commission has determined that the members of the Cabinet are “guilty” of the “inability shown by the authorities after the attacks to offer a response to the relatives and relatives of those who disappeared or were kidnapped”.

Likewise, he has pointed out that the authorities also failed to respond to the needs of the military deployed in the southern and northern areas of the country” and did not manage to address the “care” demanded by the families of those evacuated by the increase in violence.

In this sense, he has pointed out that both the Police and the Army are “the only ones responsible for the lack of coordination that prevented a successful rescue of the attendees who went to the Nova festival” and who died during the attacks, for which he has requested both Corps to “improve their cooperation” for the future.

In this way, the commission concludes that during that day “national security collapsed, and no longer meets the needs” of the country, according to information collected by the newspaper ‘The Times of Israel’.

That is why he has asked to review “the most basic assumptions on which Israeli security is based,” a process that must be carried out “frequently.” “Systematic evaluations must include analysis of new threats from the enemy, in addition to the integration of experts from various fields in Intelligence work,” he added.

Thus, it has asked Israel’s Intelligence agencies to develop “reliable and effective” mechanisms to address these concepts and cultivate a “culture of listening, learning, investigation and responsibility” before decision-making by the authorities.

“Each system, whether large or small, must take control and review its own system, especially in matters such as politics or human life. The Israeli forces need such a system, and so does the Israeli government,” he said. before asking, in turn, that the authorities focus on a plan for “the day after” in Gaza, Lebanon and the Middle East in general.

THE OPPOSITION APPLAUSES THE COMMISSION’S FINDINGS

For his part, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has applauded the findings of the commission’s report and defended his own actions. “It is an exhaustive and important document,” he stated in relation to the Government’s errors during October 7.

Lapid himself testified before the commission last August and urged the formation of a parallel official state commission that would also investigate what happened prior to the attacks.

The opponent has stressed that what happened during that day “could have been avoided” and has expressed that he considers that “all the signs detected on October 6 are still present in the current Government after all.”

However, the report, which blames Netanyahu for having decided not to attack Hamas preemptively, also points to former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Lapid himself, who has admitted that a possible operation to assassinate Hamas leaders was discussed. Hamas.

“We lead zero tolerance against terrorist attacks. Israel’s forces were instructed not to ignore any event of this type and to respond with disproportionate force. This policy led to the elimination of these types of events,” Lapid said in a statement. letter delivered to the commission.

“I have been asked on many occasions if this could have happened when I was prime minister, and the answer is ‘no’. Why do I know? Because I would have received the alerts and I would not have ignored them. During my government there was the calmest period for residents of the south of the country in a decade,” he concluded.