On Wednesday, the change of command at the top of Israel's military finally took place. General Herzi Halevi left office after just 26 months and was replaced by General Eyal Zamir. It was a tense ceremony, with the new chief of staff frequently appealing to God and Benjamin Netanyahu speaking according to his political and personal interests.
Of Halevi's last 26 months, 16 have been marked by the Gaza war, A conflict that Netanyahu does not want to leave behind because it allows him to gain political advantage. In this context, many saw a special significance in Halevi's speech: "I see responsibility in the question of values, not legality. Values are above legality."
Halevi did not stop there and called for the creation of a "state" commission to investigate the fiasco of October 7, 2023, an issue of the utmost relevance, which confronts Israeli society and the political class and which Netanyahu continues to avoid. Therefore, Halevi's statement in favor of a "state" commission is not trivial.
Netanyahu is frontally opposed to the commission investigating responsibilities being "state", because a state commission - "independent" - would mean that some judge appointed by the Supreme Court would preside over the commission, and Netanyahu does not want to hear about the Supreme Court, which is his main enemy, because of his main enemy.
Until now, Netanyahu has been in favour of creating a "governmental" commission, so that he could personally control it, an approach that the opposition rejects. State commissions have been created in Israel to investigate matters far less momentous than October 7, so it makes no sense to now oppose investigating the deaths of more than 1,800 Israelis.
This week, Netanyahu has leaked his willingness to form a "parliamentary" commission (neither state nor government). It would be a commission led by the Knesset, but it turns out that the Knesset is dominated by the governing coalition, so ultimately this commission would also be controlled by Netanyahu.
The opposition rejects the latest proposal, arguing that it is not possible for the person to be investigated to be the one investigating himself. While we are witnessing these discussions, time continues to pass in Netanyahu's favour. His primary interest is to stay in power, and that is why he is delaying the creation of the commission as much as possible.
Netanyahu does not hold himself responsible for anything. He says that those responsible are the army chief – that is, the resigning Herzi Halevi – and the head of the internal secret services, the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar. These two men are said to have failed on October 7, not Netanyahu.
In recent days, the army and the Shin Bet have presented their internal investigations and their leaders have publicly assumed their share of responsibility. One, Halevi, has already resigned, and the other, Bar, does not seem determined to resign at the moment. Both, like a large part of society, believe that there is political responsibility that falls on the prime minister.
The internal investigations of the army and the Shin Bet show that the greatest failure has not been operational but a "global misconception" of Defense and Intelligence, and of the political class, over a long period of time. And let's not forget that Netanyahu has been prime minister for over a decade and has approved all the top defense and intelligence appointments.
