Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir met again yesterday and agreed to merge the supplementary investigations into the events of October 7 - both those ordered by the Defense Minister and those initiated by the Chief of Staff.
The Defense Ministry Comptroller will be added as an observer to the investigation team examining the “Jericho Wall” document outlining Hamas's invasion plan and will receive updates regarding the investigations ordered by the Chief of Staff concerning the Operations Directorate and the Navy.
In addition, the Defense Comptroller will review the Air Force investigation and Maj. Gen. (res.) Sami Turgeman’s report on the Air Force probe regarding the role of Brig. Gen. Omer Tischler, who served as Chief of Staff of the Israel Air Force during the events of October 7. The Comptroller will submit his conclusions to the Defense Minister as soon as possible.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that no official will be above investigation in the probe into the failures of October 7.
“There was a failure here - a tremendous failure. This failure must be examined to the end. It must examine the political echelon, the military echelon, the security echelon - everyone. And this is only possible if we do it through a broad national commission of inquiry, one that is not tailored to one side or the other,” Netanyahu said in a video speech at the Israeli Cyber Conference.
He continued: “Something similar was done in the United States. After the greatest disaster in U.S. history, 9/11, they established a commission made up half of Republicans and half of Democrats. No one had an advantage; each side could raise any question and summon any person they wanted. That is what will happen here as well. There will be no protection, and no shielding of one side over another. Everyone will present their case, everyone will be questioned, and only this way will we reach the truth. This is how it should be done, and that is what will be done.”