{"id":184088,"date":"2025-12-14T10:57:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T10:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/184088\/"},"modified":"2025-12-14T10:57:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T10:57:13","slug":"former-hostages-bereaved-families-demand-netanyahu-open-october-7-state-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/184088\/","title":{"rendered":"Former hostages, bereaved families demand Netanyahu open October 7 state probe"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Marking 800 days since they were abducted, 22 former hostages on Sunday demanded the government establish a state commission of inquiry into the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, or resign.<\/p>\n<p>The demand, made in a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was also signed by dozens of members of 49 hostages\u2019 families, some of whose loved ones were killed in captivity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe call for the government of Israel to stop evading, stop procrastinating, stop whitewashing and immediately establish a state commission of inquiry,\u201d read the missive, which was put together by the October Council, a group of families of October 7 victims.<\/p>\n<p>The public campaign for the commission \u201cwill only escalate in the coming days,\u201d said the group.<\/p>\n<p>The commission would need to \u201cinvestigate all aspects of that day, including the collapse of the defense and intelligence arrays, the cries for help that went unanswered, the abandonment of [Gaza] border communities for hours on end, and the abandonment of civilians and soldiers to the inferno that unfolded within the State of Israel,\u201d the letter read.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tGet The Times of Israel&#8217;s Daily Edition<br \/>\n\t\t\tby email and never miss our top stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/terms\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">terms<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut no less than that, it must investigate what happened after October 7,\u201d it added. \u201cDecision-making in the negotiations for the hostages\u2019 return, the reasons for the repeated delays, the coordination between the political and military establishments, the statements and actions of all public officials and their effect on the life of the hostages, their medical and psychological condition, the fate of those who were kidnapped alive and murdered in captivity, and the long time that passed until the slain hostages were returned to their families.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\t<a href=\"https:\/\/static-cdn.toi-media.com\/www\/uploads\/2025\/11\/F251115AVS09-e1763241108969.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-3689545\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/F251115AVS09-e1763241108969-640x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"375\"\/><\/a><br \/>\n\t\tAnti-government protesters demand the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 massacre, at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, November 15, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni\/Flash90)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe demand the truth. We demand justice. We demand accountability,\u201d the missive said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t intend to take responsibility and establish such a commission \u2014 as demanded by the majority of the nation \u2014 then resign and let the nation decide\u201d via elections.<\/p>\n<p>The signatories of the letter included Ariel Cunio, one of the final 20 living hostages released on October 13 this year under the current ceasefire-hostage deal.<\/p>\n<p>Other signatories were Cunio\u2019s partner Arbel Yehoud, who was released in January under the previous ceasefire, and three others released under the same agreement: Ohad Ben Ami, Gadi Mozes and Yarden Bibas, whose wife Shiri and two young sons Ariel and Kfir were murdered in captivity.<\/p>\n<p>Also signed were Luis Har and Fernando Marman, who were rescued by the IDF in February 2024; as well as Marman\u2019s sisters Clara Marman, who is Har\u2019s partner, and Gabriele Leimberg, whose daughter was also abducted and who were all released in the weeklong truce-hostage deal of November 2023.<\/p>\n<p>\t<a href=\"https:\/\/static-cdn.toi-media.com\/www\/uploads\/2025\/02\/vlcsnap-2025-02-01-11h31m31s799-copy.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-3472908\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/vlcsnap-2025-02-01-11h31m31s799-copy-640x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"375\"\/><\/a><br \/>\n\t\tYarden Bibas embraces his father Eli and his sister Ofri at an IDF facility near Re\u2019im after his release from 484 days in Hamas captivity, February 1, 2025. (Screencapture\/Israel Defense Forces)<\/p>\n<p>The 13 other hostages who signed the letter were also released in that deal, which took place weeks after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that started the war: Ben Ami\u2019s wife Raz; Cunio\u2019s sister-in-law Sharon, whose husband and two young daughters were also abducted; Sharon\u2019s sister Daniel, whose young daughter was also abducted; Amit Soussana; Yaffa Adar; Ditza Heiman; Margalit Mozes; Karen Munder, whose son and mother were also abducted and released and whose father was killed in captivity; Raaya Rotem, whose daughter was also abducted; Noralin Babadilla, whose husband was murdered on the October 7 attack; and mother and daughter Chen Goldstein Almog and Agam Goldstein.<\/p>\n<p>The former hostages who signed the missive were all residents of the kibbutzim near the Gaza border that were ravaged in the Hamas onslaught.<\/p>\n<p>Among the dozens of members of hostage families who also signed the missive were Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, whose son Hersh Goldberg-Polin was murdered in captivity; and Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan was released in the current hostage deal, and who spearheaded anti-government protests in the campaign for his return.<\/p>\n<p>The family of the last hostage whose body has not been returned from Gaza, Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, did not sign the letter.<\/p>\n<p>Netanyahu has rejected a state commission of inquiry \u2014 Israel\u2019s highest investigative authority \u2014 saying it would be biased against him because it is led by the judiciary, which the government has been seeking to weaken. In lieu of a state commission, the cabinet voted last month to establish its own probe, whose scope will be determined by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/levin-to-lead-ben-gvir-smotrich-and-others-in-delineating-governments-oct-7-probe\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">government ministers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Opinion polls have consistently shows a strong majority of Israelis support a state commission of inquiry.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tYou appreciate our journalism\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"400\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DH-new-headshot-circular.png\" class=\"attachment-square_large size-square_large wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"crm-article-popup__counter-wrap\" style=\"display:none\">&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tWe\u2019re really pleased that you\u2019ve read  X Times of Israel articles in the past month.&#13;\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>You clearly find our careful reporting valuable, in a time when facts are often distorted and news coverage often lacks context.<\/p>\n<p>Your support is essential to continue our work. We want to continue delivering the professional journalism you value, even as the demands on our newsroom have grown dramatically since October 7.<\/p>\n<p>So today, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6 a month you&#8217;ll become our partners while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing\u00a0exclusive content\u00a0available only to Times of Israel Community members.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you,<br \/>David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/crm.timesofisrael.com\/sign-up?utm_campaign=dhmatters&amp;utm_source=website&amp;utm_medium=article_end_counter&amp;utm_content=1964F6\" class=\"crm-post-module__btn\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/crm.timesofisrael.com\/sign-up?utm_campaign=dhmatters&amp;utm_source=website&amp;utm_medium=article_end_counter&amp;utm_content=1964F6\" class=\"crm-post-module__btn crm-post-module__btn-mobile\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a class=\"crm_under_btn_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/crm.timesofisrael.com\/sign-in\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Marking 800 days since they were abducted, 22 former hostages on Sunday demanded the government establish a state&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":184089,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-184088","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}