Likud lawmaker Ariel Kallner on Sunday presented the main principles of his outline for a proposed “national state investigation committee” into the failures surrounding Hamas’s onslaught on October 7, 2023. The plan is meant to replace an independent state commission of inquiry, which the government opposes, but which polls consistently show is backed by most of the public.

Opposition leaders dismissed the proposal as an effort by the coalition to cover up its failures by appointing its own investigators and setting their mandate.

Kallner detailed his plan at a Knesset press conference. The plan, an earlier version of which was floated by Kallner earlier this year, calls for a majority of 80 out of 120 MKs to appoint a six-member committee and its chairman. If there were no agreement after two weeks, both the opposition and coalition would be allowed to select three committee members each, who would be joined by four supervisory members representing bereaved families.

The proposal states that if either the coalition or opposition does not cooperate in the process or cannot settle on a candidate, the Knesset speaker will choose instead — giving the coalition effective control in the event of an expected opposition boycott.

Any two members of the committee would be empowered to summon any person or investigate any entity, and all discussions would be broadcast live.

In a booklet explaining his proposal, Kallner wrote that the proposal is intended to provide the investigation with broad public approval, arguing that a state commission of inquiry, whose members would be chosen by Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, would not enjoy such public support.

“Instead of........

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