Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared this evening (Monday) that the new state investigation committee to be established following the events of October 7 will have full powers - and will be divided equally between the coalition and the opposition.
According to him, the goal is to ensure an independent investigation that will be acceptable to the majority of the public and that will provide a clear picture of the events leading up to the disaster.
Netanyahu opened: "The Ministerial Committee for Legislative Affairs approved today the bill to establish a special state investigation committee. This will be an equal committee to investigate the events of October 7 and the circumstances that led to them.".
""This is an independent investigative committee, with full powers, exactly as stipulated in the Investigative Committees Law. Contrary to what is claimed, politicians will not be members of the committee. The composition of the committee members will be determined equally: half by the coalition and half by the opposition. The committee will consist of experts in security, academia, law, and also bereaved parents who will serve as observers," Netanyahu clarified.
He added: "The government could have established a government investigation committee, with a composition determined entirely by the government. But I believed that such a committee would have gained the trust of only a portion of the public. By the same token, an investigation committee whose composition was determined exclusively by Justice Yitzhak Amit, as the opposition proposes, would have received only a small portion of the public's trust in it.".
""The majority of the public, unequivocally, supports an equal investigative committee - and for good reason. An unprecedented event like October 7 requires a special investigative committee, a broad national committee, that will be acceptable to the majority of the people. This will be an equal investigative committee. No side will have any advantage in appointing committee members.".
Netanyahu gave an example from the US's conduct in investigating the September 11th disaster. "After the greatest disaster in our history, we are acting exactly as the US acted after the greatest disaster in American history. President Bush then enacted a special law that established a special investigative committee. And what was this committee - an equal committee between both sides of the political fence. No one then admitted to 'political bias,' and I must say that its conclusions received broad legitimacy, precisely for this reason.
""That's exactly what we're doing. If we really want to get to the truth, if we really don't want to allow a cover-up, how can we oppose that?""
The Prime Minister wanted to convey a message to the opposition. "Bring in whatever experts you want, ask whatever you want, interrogate whoever you want - including me. The mandate of the committee and the boundaries of the investigation will be determined by the government. This is nothing new, it is not special, this is the practice in all committees of inquiry of any kind. Therefore, there is nothing special or unusual here. On the contrary - this is the accepted procedure.
""I promise you, all issues will be examined, without exception - political, security, intelligence, legal - everything.
""Today I convened a team of ministers to formulate alternatives for the scope of the investigation, and the proposal will be submitted to the government for approval.
""And I am convinced: a special state investigation committee, an equal committee between the opposition and the coalition - is the right way to find out the truth.".
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