Former minister Izhar Shay, whose son Yaron was killed fending off the October 7 attack, called on the opposition leaders to insist on a state commission following next year\u2019s election.<\/p>\n
\u201cI call on the leaders of the opposition parties to officially commit not to join after the election any government that does not promise in its basic guidelines to establish a state commission of inquiry immediately upon taking office,\u201d said Shay, who served in Gantz\u2019s Blue and White party.<\/p>\n
\t He further called on potential investigators and witnesses to refuse to cooperate with the government-run probe, which he called a \u201cwhitewashing\u201d committee. Critics of the effort say that the government that was in power on October 7 shouldn\u2019t control the committee that investigates the attack.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t appear before a committee that has a mark of shame hanging over it and the blood of the fallen and murdered smeared on the hands of its creators,\u201d Shay said.<\/p>\n A column of protesters marching to the demonstration from Kaplan Street carried a large banner reading, \u201cWanted: a strong, united opposition.\u201d<\/p>\n Referring to Netanyahu, they chanted: \u201cIt\u2019s time to topple the tyrant.\u201d<\/p>\n Right-wing youths started yelling at attendees and getting into shoving matches with some of them as the rally kicked off. They were pushed slightly back by the police and continued jeering and whistling.<\/p>\n A large screen on the square\u2019s eastern side, on which speeches were broadcast, showed the names and pictures of some of the 1,200 people killed in the October 7 attack, alongside questions about the circumstances of their death.<\/p>\n The crowd cheered for each of the opposition leaders in attendance as the MC, bereaved father and former Beit Shean mayor Rafi Ben Shitrit of the October Council, read their names. Gantz, who joined Netanyahu\u2019s government after the October 7 attack, also drew some jeers.<\/p>\n \t Also in attendance were representatives of the anti-corruption watchdog Movement for Quality Government, anti-government reservists\u2019 and veterans\u2019 groups, and activists who stood in silence along the square\u2019s western side holding candles and clutching placards with pictures and names of Palestinian children killed during the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n Adi Zakuto, whose father Avi was murdered in the southern city of Ofakim during the onslaught, said what \u201cburns me today, more than the pain, is the thing my dad hated more than anything \u2013 evading accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n The ministerial panel established this week to determine the scope of the governmental probe is \u201ca political commission of the investigated trying to decide who will investigate them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cMy father was murdered because of a debacle. There are people who are responsible for that debacle,\u201d she said. \u201cWhoever was part of the failures can\u2019t write the rulebook of the investigation. Whoever took Israel back to the age when citizens were prey cannot determine what can be asked and what can\u2019t be probed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn the name of my father, in the name of everyone who is no longer here, the kidnapped, rescued, wounded\u2026 don\u2019t let them get away,\u201d said Zakuto. \u201cDon\u2019t let them rewrite history. Don\u2019t let them turn October 7 into another campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTruth will out; I won\u2019t let anyone bury it,\u201d she declared.<\/p>\n \t Tali Biner, who survived the October 7 massacre at the Nova music festival, stressed what she said is the nonpartisan nature of the demand for a state commission of inquiry, which Netanyahu rejects because it is established by the judiciary, which his government has sought to weaken.<\/p>\n Addressing the government, Biner said: \u201cWe are not the enemy, and this is not politics.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhoever tries to portray this as political is a person who despises truth,\u201d she added. \u201cWe are the citizens whose security you were responsible for.\u201d<\/p>\n Three remaining slain hostages<\/p>\n Bar Godard, the daughter of the slain hostage Meny Godard<\/a>, whose body was returned from Hamas captivity last week as part of the Gaza ceasefire, called on the hundreds gathered at Tel Aviv\u2019s Hostages Square to keep pressure on the government to ensure the return of the remains of the three deceased hostages \u2014 Master Sgt. Ran Gvili<\/a>, Dror Or<\/a> and Sudthisak Rinthalak<\/a> \u2014 still in Gaza.<\/p>\n \u201cThe return of the deceased is not a favor to the families. It\u2019s the most basic duty the State of Israel has to its citizens\u2026 A duty our leadership has forgotten again and again, and that we\u2019ve reminded them of again and again,\u201d she told the hundreds-strong crowd.<\/p>\n She added that \u201cthe sad thing is that our enemy understands us better than our own leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/F251122AVS05-e1763836494452-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tAnti-government protesters demanding a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 massacre rally at Habima Square, Tel Aviv, November 22, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni\/Flash90)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/F251122AVS12-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tDemocrats chair Yair Golan and MK Naama Lazimi attend a protest demanding the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 massacre, at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, November 22, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni\/Flash90)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/F251122AVS02-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tMK Benny Gantz at a protest demanding the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 massacre, at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, November 22, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni\/Flash90)<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/F251122AVS24-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>