politically appointed commission of inquiry<\/a> into the failings surrounding the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion and atrocities, describing it as having been \u201ctailor-made\u201d for the \u201cpersonal\u201d needs of the current government and coalition.<\/p>\nIn an opinion published Sunday, Baharav-Miara says the commission of inquiry envisioned in a private member\u2019s bill submitted by Likud MK Ariel Kallner would \u201cpoliticize\u201d the inquiry; \u201ctrample\u201d on professional considerations for getting at the truth; give the commission\u2019s members powers not fitting for them; and would harm the ability of any future, non-politicized, independent commission to properly investigate the October 7 failings.<\/p>\n
As such, the attorney general says the severe deficiencies of the bill mean the government should not support the bill.<\/p>\n
Kallner\u2019s bill, which is due to be approved by the government tomorrow for support in the Knesset, would create a \u201cstate-national\u201d commission of inquiry whose members would be chosen by the coalition and opposition, with almost no criteria for determining the qualifications of its members.<\/p>\n
The opposition has vowed to boycott such a panel, insisting instead on a state commission of inquiry.\u00a0The members of a state commission of inquiry, as defined under current law, are appointed by the Supreme Court president and it is led by a retired justice of the court.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn front of us is a \u2018personal bill,\u2019 that is \u2018tailored to the measurements\u2019 of the current government and coalition,\u201d charges Baharav-Miara.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not the result of professional staff work, but rather of political discourse led by the prime minister and in cooperation with the coalition factions,\u201d she continues in her broadside against the proposal, which she says would create a severely compromised commission of inquiry.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe proposal politicizes the commission, creates a commission for which there is a real concern that political considerations will override the professional considerations essential to investigating the truth, whose investigative powers are not appropriate for such a panel in the absence of a senior judge at its head, and whose mechanism is cumbersome and will thwart the ability to investigate the truth and draw objective conclusions,\u201d she expounds.<\/p>\n
Baharav-Miara says that if changes are to be made to commissions of inquiry at all, then the extreme nature of the October 7 invasion and atrocities require finding ways \u201cto reduce the dependence of a state commission on the government\u201d in order to boost public trust, \u201cand for sure do not justify creating a mechanism which will increase dependence on the government and a panel which is a result of political considerations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bill, she continues, is designed to \u201cserve the personal, political interests of the government and its members, while abusing the [legislative] pathway of a private member\u2019s bill\u201d to avoid scrutiny by the Attorney General\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n
Government legislation requires approval from the attorney general, whereas private members\u2019 bills do not.<\/p>\n
Baharav-Miara also says that a so-called ministerial committee for deciding the mandate and scope of the proposed \u201cstate-national\u201d commission, which is set to begin deliberations tomorrow and led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is not operating under any real, legal authority, since such committees only operate in conjunction with a state commission of inquiry established under current law.<\/p>\n
\u201cTherefore, there is no place for the government to support the bill, and instead it should act in accordance with existing law and establish a state commission of inquiry,\u201d Baharav-Miara concludes.<\/p>\n
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