State Comptroller Says Some Petitioners Asked Him to Remove Accountability Sections from October 7 Reports

State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman said at the second day of the Muni Expo local government conference in Tel Aviv that some of the petitioners challenging publication of the October 7, 2023 reports asked him to delete the accountability chapter and still release the reports. Speaking with journalist Yinir Kozin, he said, "Who is afraid of the truth and of taking responsibility?" and argued that Israelis deserve answers.

Englman said the comptroller’s office has already published nearly 50 reports on the October 7 Hamas attack, and another batch, including a report on evacuating the wounded, is due next week. He said thousands were injured in the attack and many bled to death because they were not evacuated in time. He declined to discuss the findings of the Nova festival report, but called it "resonant, serious and extremely important" for drawing lessons.

He said eight reports are currently frozen under a High Court of Justice decision, four of them draft reports sent last July and four dealing with core failure issues. Among the frozen reports, he said, is the one on permits and security for the Reim party, where nearly 400 people were killed and others were raped and abducted. He added that the public is entitled to answers and that this does not conflict with any future state commission of inquiry.

Englman said about 100 staff-years were invested in the reports on intelligence failure, the border fence failure, body evacuation, and protecting southern cities. He said the office examines all levels, political, military, and civilian, and will assign personal responsibility to those responsible for major failures. He told Kozin that the petitioners included the Military Advocate General’s Office, which he said had asked him to omit the responsibility section. Kozin pressed him on whether he meant military petitioners, and Englman replied that the military side was indeed the petitioner, adding that the IDF’s own reviews were insufficient and that the army must account for failures at the General Staff level as well.