Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday ordered Army Chief Herzi Halevi to “fully cooperate” with the investigation being conducted by state auditor Matanyahu Englaman into the lapses that occurred on October 7, 2023 during the Hamas attacks.
"It is not possible that a situation arises in which the Army fears the necessary public scrutiny and transparency in view of the gravity of the events that took place on 7 October when the Chief of Staff was in command of the troops," the minister said in a statement.
Katz's order comes after state auditor Englaman accused the army of "intimidating" senior officers who testified in the investigation.
Katz then asks Halevi to allow the auditor to access any material that “may be necessary” for his investigation.
In addition, in his note, the defense minister warned the army chief, who also opened his own internal investigation on October 7, that he will not be able to approve new appointments within the ranks if they do not present their findings so that they can be “examined and evaluate the impact.”
The army, for its part, said it would hand over its investigations to the state auditor once they were completed, but indicated that "the commanders who manage the fighting (in Gaza) are also the ones who carry out the investigations."
“We are prioritizing the quality of the investigations over completing them at a faster pace, but we will still do our best to complete them professionally as quickly as possible,” an army spokesman told Hebrew media
This summer, Israeli public broadcaster Kan revealed that The Army knew “with a high degree of precision” the plans of the terrorist organization Hamas three weeks before they carried out their massacre in which some 1.200 people were killed and another 251 kidnapped.
More than a year later, this failure in Israeli security has had little impact on the authorities, with only two major resignations in the military establishment, while the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to assume political responsibility for these failures and his handling of the war, despite the fact that a broad citizen movement and the opposition are calling for early elections.
Earlier this month, nearly a thousand people affected by the terrorist massacre called for the establishment of a state commission to investigate the mistakes that allowed Palestinian militants to carry out their offensive against Israel.
Netanyahu has refused to consider launching a public inquiry process As long as the war in the Gaza Strip continues.
Agencies contributed to this Aurora article.