This article was originally published on Daily Kos.
By Alan Singer
For the last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tried to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, the head of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency and Bar no longer attends cabinet meetings. Netanyahu accuses Bar of betraying his trust. Bar responded that his obligation was to help free the remaining hostages, not personal loyalty to Netanyahu. Under Bar, Shin Bet has been investigating the reasons for the success of the Hamas attack on Israeli on October 7, 2023, an investigation that Netanyahu wants to block.
The Shin Bet, which was responsible for monitoring militant groups in the Gaza Strip, issued a report acknowledging that it understood the threat posed by Hamas and accepted responsibility for its failure to prevent the attack. The report also criticized Netanyahu charging that his government’s policies facilitated the attack. According to Bar, “Shin Bat’s “investigation reveals a long and deliberate disregard from the political leadership from the organization’s warnings.” The Israeli army also accepted some blame because it underestimated Hamas’ capabilities.
To block an investigation that could expose possible malfeasance, Netanyahu has also tried to emasculate the Israel court system. In Israel, under the 1968 State Commissions of Inquiry Law, judicial commissions investigate possible government failures that impact on the Israeli people. There have been sixteen commissions since 1969 including a commission that reported on Israel’s unpreparedness for the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Under the law, the government must request the creation of the commission, but the president of the Israeli Supreme Court selects its members to ensure findings are non-political. During Benjamin Netanyahu’s sixteen years as Prime Minister of Israel, the governments he headed never established a commission of inquiry. Netanyahu’s parliamentary coalition is currently pushing a bill that would give the Prime Minister and the cabinet authority to appoint commission members instead of the judiciary.
There are a number of questions that need to be examined by a Commission of Inquiry investigating the events leading up to Hamas’ attack on Israeli on October 7, 2023. The biggest questions include: Why is Netanyahu blocking formation of a Commission of Inquiry?; What role did the Netanyahu-led government play in empowering Hamas?; How much did the military and the Netanyahu-led government know about Hamas plans before October 7?; Why was Israel unprepared to quickly repel the attack and prevent the murder of over 1,200 people and the taking of more than 200 people as hostages? Other questions include: Where did Hamas get the money, equipment, and material to build its underground tunnel network?; and How did Hamas dispose of millions of tons of dirt and debris without Israeli knowledge? Despite Donald Trump’s ridiculous claims, Hamas did not use inflated condoms supplied by a United States foreign aid department as part of the attack.
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Alan Singer is a historian and teacher educator at Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York. His most recent books are Social Studies for Secondary Schools, 5th edition (Routledge, 2024) and Class-Conscious Coal Miners (SUNY Press, 2024). Blogs, tweets, essays, interviews, and e-blasts present his views and not those of Hofstra University.