The High Court of Justice issued an interim order against State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman on Wednesday, barring him from continuing his inquiry into key aspects of the failures surrounding the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion and massacres.
The court ordered him not to summon any officials to give their version of events or provide documentation for his probe, or to publish any draft or final report which he may have drawn up on specific aspects of his probe.
And the court also issued a conditional order against the State Comptroller to justify more broadly his investigation into areas of policy and strategy, which petitioners against his probe have said go beyond the remit of his office.
Conditional orders switch the burden of proof from the petitioners to the respondent, and indicate that the court believes a petition has merit. The judges gave Englman until February 1 to file his response to the petitions against his probe, but did not give a timeframe for a hearing.
The ruling was issued by Justices Daphne Barak-Erez, David Mintz, and Alex Stein. Both Mintz and Stein are considered conservatives.
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Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, in response, labeled the court “a circus” and called Supreme Court President Isaac Amit “a clown,” and claimed the court had no authority to intervene over Englman’s probe.
Supreme Court justice Daphne Barak-Erez presides over a hearing on petitions calling to halt or limit State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman’s investigations into the failures surrounding the Hamas-led October 7 attack, December 29, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Englman said he would abide by the decision, but insisted his inquiry was objective.
And the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, one of the petitioners, said the court’s decision was justified due to what it described as severe flaws in the State Comptroller’s probe, including failing to speak with all senior officials included in his review. The Military Advocate General’s Corps’ Military Defense unit, the other petitioner said likewise that the ruling was important in upholding the rights of senior officials being probed by Englman.
The State Comptroller’s review into the apparent multi-level, institutional failures surrounding the October 7 catastrophe has been controversial from the outset, with liberal watchdog groups like the Movement for Quality Government arguing that it was not the place of the comptroller to examine such events, that his probe would taint evidence and the investigative process, and that only s state commission of inquiry could properly investigate the disaster.
Concerns were also raised by critics that Englman, who has no legal background and was appointed to his position under a Netanyahu-led government, could seek to minimize political responsibility for the devastating October 7 onslaught.
Englman, for his part, has insisted it is his authority under Basic Law: State Comptroller that he is authorized to examine the functioning of all state institutions, and that due to the ongoing refusal of the government to establish a state commission of inquiry, his probe is the only state-backed examination of the October 7 invasion.
After petitions were filed against Englman’s inquiry in June 2024, the High Court brokered an agreement between Englman and the IDF and Shin Bet, in which it was agreed that he would start with less critical aspects of the disaster and its aftermath, and then move on to the core issues. A list of topics was agreed upon in April 2025, and the agreement was given formal approval by the High Court.
But the Military Advocate General’s Corps’ Military Defense unit and Movement for Quality government petitioned the High Court in September, alleging that there were “substantive flaws” in Englman’s information gathering processes. Among those it said were a failure to speak with some of the senior officials under review in the inquiry in order to get their version of events before formulating his findings and conclusions. The organization said that this violated the rights of those officials.
More broadly, the petition argued that the ombudsman has no remit to conduct an inquiry into the October 7 attacks, since the role of the office is to examine the processes of the agencies under review, but not to examine policy and strategy.
Suhayb Razem held by a Hamas terrorist at the Nova festival site, October 7, 2023. (Screenshot: YouTube, 27a clause of copyright law)
The court on Wednesday ruled that Englman must cease, for the meantime, his probes into seven specific issues listed in the April 2025 agreement, including three critical aspects of October 7; the approval of the Nova music festival at Reim Kibbutz close to the border, defense readiness in southern cities, Gaza border defenses, and the functioning of the government and cabinet ministers, the IDF and the Shin Bet on October 7 itself.
It also issued a conditional order for him to respond substantively to the petitions and justify his inquiry into matters “of policy and strategy, or on issues that require broad factual and investigative inquiry,” in particular, the ones specified by the court.
Englman said in response that his office will abide by the order. He insisted, however, that despite allegations in petitions against his probe, the work being done by his office was “independent and objective,” and said his office was a key institution for reviewing the functioning of the government and its agencies.
“The State Comptroller is at present the only state agency that has worked to bring the truth to light and provide answers to Israeli citizens about the October 7 failure. Without the public release of the reports, failings will not be corrected – including failings that, if corrected, could save lives,” said Englman.
The Military Advocate General’s Corps’ Military Defense unit said the court’s decision demonstrated the importance of “careful and balanced examination” of the issues, “while protecting the rights of IDF personnel and the principles of due process,” and said the ruling underlined “the obligation for conducting a proper and fair process” regarding military officers in everything to do with examining the October 7 attacks.
Chikli, however, urged the government to disobey the court’s decisions and denounced it for its rulings against the government.
“The Supreme Court, headed by the clown Isaac Amit, is turning into a circus,” wrote the cabinet minister in a post on X.
“I call on the prime minister and justice minister to state clearly and unequivocally that any ruling issued without being based on Knesset legislation will not be respected.”
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