Violence erupted in the Knesset on Monday evening when guards physically intervened to stop bereaved families and hostage relatives from entering the visitors’ gallery to observe a debate on investigating the October 7 tragedy, which included remarks from Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.
Members of the October Council—comprising survivors, former hostages, and families of victims—attempted to ascend the stairs to the gallery when they were forcefully pushed, struck, and grabbed, leading to a chaotic scene. A video posted by the group depicted one guard wrestling a man to the ground, using his forearm across the man’s throat. Reports from Hebrew media indicated that three people needed medical care after the incident.
During the altercation, one member of the group shouted at the guards, accusing them of “hitting bereaved parents.” Several family members were seen in tears, comforting each other following the incident. Some even recited Kaddish before they were eventually permitted entry into the gallery.
Shimon Buskila, father of Yarden Buskila, who was killed at the Nova festival on October 7, fainted during the confrontation and had to be treated medically, Channel 12 reported. In a video posted online, he expressed how “broken” he felt by the events.
“Is this how bereaved families are treated? With us on the floor? Is that our place?” he asked.
The families had come to the Knesset to participate in a “40 signatures debate” — a monthly parliamentary discussion that requires the prime minister’s attendance — focused on the creation of a state commission of inquiry into the events of October 7, including the failure to prevent Hamas’s attack.
Before the debate, the families held a press conference within the Knesset, urging for a formal investigation. Nova survivor Tali Biner, recalling the horrific sounds of those who were murdered and assaulted, shared that she no longer sleeps at night and called for Netanyahu to establish a commission of inquiry “to investigate what happened to us that day.”
“Without understanding the failures, we cannot correct them, and the next disaster is already at hand,” she stated.
Despite the families’ appeals, Netanyahu reaffirmed his long-standing opposition to a state commission of inquiry, which is a powerful investigative body capable of subpoenaing witnesses and would likely be detrimental to his leadership, according to many analysts.
In a passionate address, Netanyahu acknowledged the need for a thorough investigation into the events of October 7 but insisted that it must be one that “wins the trust of the nation, or the overwhelming majority of the nation.”
With his face flushed and shouting into the microphone, Netanyahu called for an “objective, balanced, independent investigation… not a commission whose findings are predetermined.”
“What do you think? That we’re children?” he yelled, criticizing the proposal for a state commission, which would typically be led by the president of the High Court of Justice. He argued that it would result in a biased investigation. “That we don’t understand? That you say the word ‘state [commission]’ and that makes it one?”
“The public demands the truth. We demand the truth,” he continued, banging his fist on the podium. “We want a commission that will investigate everything, everything, with no exceptions.”
Netanyahu further accused his critics of running a “fictitious and cynical campaign” against him, capitalizing on the grief of the hostages’ families.
Throughout his speech, Netanyahu was repeatedly interrupted by opposition members, some of whom were escorted out of the chamber. The prime minister remarked that while Israel is battling external enemies, it must also address those who “are drilling holes in the national ship.”
By this time, the bereaved families and hostages’ relatives were allowed into the gallery, which had remained largely empty. Several turned their backs on Netanyahu during his speech in protest, while others displayed photographs of their loved ones.
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana initially called for the families to be removed, as protests are prohibited in the plenum. However, after a request from Netanyahu, he seemed to reverse his stance, advising that the relatives show respect.
During the debate, National Unity MK Chili Tropper read a letter from Yarden Bibas, a recently released hostage, whose wife Shiri and two sons were murdered in captivity by Hamas.
In his letter, Bibas expressed his deep sorrow, saying he would never be able to embrace his family again. He urged Netanyahu to help bring other hostages home and called for the establishment of a state commission of inquiry. Bibas also invited Netanyahu to visit Kibbutz Nir Oz for the first time since the attacks.
“Mr. Prime Minister, you and your government have still not taken responsibility,” Bibas wrote. “So many citizens are asking for forgiveness. So few politicians are asking for forgiveness. So many citizens and fighters are taking responsibility. So few members of the government are taking responsibility. Eighty-three percent of Israeli citizens are demanding a state commission of inquiry, along with 1,500 October Council families, myself among them.”
“I am constantly thinking and regretting that I did not protect my wife and children better. It eats me up inside. I only had a gun and I am a simple citizen in a quiet kibbutz. Do you think about this? Do you also find it difficult to spend days and nights without a heavy sense of responsibility for what happened?” he questioned.
“I have not yet entered my home in Nir Oz and I do not know what awaits me inside. I ask you to come with me, to join me for the first time since October 7. I ask that we do this together. If we do not look the disaster in the eye, we will not be able to recover.”
After reading the letter, Tropper walked over to Netanyahu to hand it to him, but the prime minister did not acknowledge him, and Tropper placed the letter in front of him.
Both Benny Gantz, leader of the National Unity party, and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid also demanded a commission of inquiry. Gantz read a letter from Yarden Adam, whose sister, Mapal Adam, was killed at the Nova festival.
Adam wrote that Netanyahu understands a commission of inquiry is “inevitable,” but questioned how much longer the prime minister would prolong the agony of Israeli society, particularly the families affected.
Gantz warned that avoiding the formation of an official investigation body would lead to “anarchy” and condemned attempts to allow those under investigation to “choose the investigators.”
“We will not agree to any hybrid creation that will replace a state commission of inquiry,” Gantz asserted.
Last week, Likud MK Ariel Kallner proposed an alternative investigative body, suggesting that its members be selected by the Knesset to prevent the formation of a state commission.
Lapid also chastised Netanyahu, stating, “The greatest disaster that has happened to the Jewish people since the Holocaust belongs to you. It will always belong to you.”
He continued, “Any person on whose watch this disaster happened would take it with him to his grave until his last day. There was never a government here that had so many reasons to ask for forgiveness.”
Lapid criticized Netanyahu for failing to take responsibility, accusing him of presiding over a government that shows no accountability.
“An entire country is in pain, anxious, angry, abandoned by a government that takes no responsibility for anything. Ask for forgiveness from them,” Lapid urged Netanyahu.
Lapid also mocked Netanyahu’s loss of composure while being interrupted, saying, “Prime Minister, you once gave me good advice: never lose your temper at the podium. I propose to give this advice to you. It was not an easy performance to watch.”
“I think of the families sitting here, and I think of the soldiers in the army who see a prime minister losing his temper at the podium, why? Because you had a tough morning in court?” he added.
Following the debate, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope party also issued a statement calling for the establishment of a state commission of inquiry, proposing that the pool of senior jurists eligible to lead the body be expanded to increase public trust.
In the wake of Monday’s violence, the October Council demanded that Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana resign.
“Yesterday, we sent a letter to Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, announcing the intention of dozens of bereaved families to come to the visitors’ gallery and watch the discussion on establishing a state commission of inquiry,” the group said in a statement.
“The Knesset speaker should resign today. By ordering bereaved families to be beaten by the Knesset Guard, [he has caused] the entire State of Israel to be ashamed of him,” the statement continued. “Our patience is running out.”
Though it remains unclear whether Ohana directly ordered the guards’ actions, he was criticized by Lapid, who called him “a partner in this disgrace.”
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also joined in the calls for Netanyahu’s resignation, urging him to “go home already.”
{Matzav.com}