Israel’s Supreme Court issued a dramatic decision on Wednesday morning, ordering State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman to suspend his ongoing probe into the failures surrounding the October 7 massacre.

The decision was based on the opinion of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who accepted the arguments of two petitions against the probe, one submitted by the corrupt leftist Movement for Quality Government and the other on behalf of the Military Defense Counsel, which seeks to “protect the rights of officers.”

In a panel of three judges—Dafna Barak-Erez, David Mintz and Alex Stein—the Supreme Court ruled that a conditional order should be issued instructing the State Comptroller to explain why he should not refrain from conducting audits in areas relating to policy, strategy or matters requiring extensive factual investigation.

In addition, an interim order was issued instructing Englman to refrain from taking actual actions on these matters—including summoning witnesses, collecting documents or publishing drafts—until he submits his response, with the deadline in one month.

Likud MK Avichai Boaron responded to the decision by stating, “Once again, the Supreme Court tramples the law and one of Israel’s most important institutions. The State Comptroller has explicit authority to audit any entity, including the IDF, the defense establishment, and the government—also on sensitive matters, during wartime, and regarding severe failures. Once again, the Supreme Court ignores a Basic Law (the State Comptroller) and exercises authority it does not have. The law explicitly states that the State Comptroller has the authority to examine ‘any matter he deems necessary.’”

“A few months ago, many of us—right-wing Members of Knesset—pledged: ‘The Knesset will not bow its head submissively before the Supreme Court.’ The time has come to fulfill that commitment and stop the trampling of the law by the Supreme Court. I call on the State Comptroller to inform the Supreme Court of his commitment to the law and to the state, and therefore of his duty to continue investigating the events of October 7.”

The ruling follows a hearing held at the Supreme Court on Monday regarding the State Comptroller’s authority to investigate the events of October 7. The hearing made headlines when Otzma Yehudit MK Almog Cohen arrived wearing an “Against the High Court” shirt, following the Court’s decision allowing Hapoel Tel Aviv fans to wear shirts stating “Police are scum.” In response, the justice became angry with Cohen and ordered his removal from the courtroom: “Sir, you are disrupting the order of the court.”

During the hearing, Baharav-Miara adopted the view of the petitioners, arguing that the Comptroller must “step back” and refrain from oversight that could lead to personal conclusions, in order not to infringe upon the authority of a future state commission of inquiry, which she considers the only body fit to investigate the failure (as the members of the commission would be appointed by extreme leftist Supreme Court justice Yitzchak Amit.)

The State Comptroller rejected these claims and clarified that his duty is to Israeli citizens and the families of the hostages and the fallen, and he is determined to complete the probe despite the pressure.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)