The October Council families responded to the statement by Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said in an interview with “7 Days” that “on October 7 at 12:00, we did not send all forces south because we didn’t know if it was a diversionary tactic.” According to the families, “Smotrich is openly describing how government ministers, who are evading responsibility and refusing to establish a state commission of inquiry, delayed the arrival of forces during the critical hours of October 7. This decision must be investigated, along with a long list of decisions by political leadership, IDF high command and intelligence agencies that have not yet been examined, two years after the disaster. How many people could have been saved? How many kidnappings could have been prevented? It’s time for the political echelon to stop avoiding responsibility and do what is necessary: establish a state commission of inquiry. The war is over, the excuses are over. It’s time to investigate to prevent the next disaster.”
