Israel’s opposition promises commission into October 7 failures
Israeli opposition leaders Gadi Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett, Avigdor Lieberman and Yair Golan said that establishing a state commission to investigate the failures that led to the October 7 attack would be among the first decisions of a new government under their leadership.
Promise to establish a commission
In a joint statement, the politicians said that the commission should investigate the causes of the failures, establish the truth and help prevent such a catastrophe from happening again. They also called Benjamin Netanyahu’s government unfit to remain in power.
The opposition figures said they would act in a coordinated and responsible manner to prevent a new tragedy. The Jerusalem Post reported on their statement.
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Reports of a warning from the UAE
The statement was made against the backdrop of a Haaretz report, which the opposition called a “shocking revelation.” According to Haaretz, United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan warned Netanyahu about 10 days before the October 7 attack that Hamas was preparing a major operation against Israel.
As the outlet reported, citing three senior foreign officials familiar with the content of the conversation, the 45-minute phone call took place about 10 days before the attack. The UAE president allegedly urged Netanyahu to take the threat seriously, fearing significant bloodshed, regional destabilization and the undermining of the Abraham Accords.
According to Haaretz, Netanyahu replied that he considered Hamas actions in the West Bank likely and assured that Israel was prepared for any scenario. The outlet also reported that former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and former Israel Defense Forces Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi told Haaretz that they had not been informed of the UAE president’s warning. Opposition leaders are demanding explanations of what exactly Netanyahu knew, when he received the information and why, according to them, he did not pass it on to the security agencies.
