Israeli Supreme Court Rules State Comptroller Exceeded Authority in October 7 Massacre Investigation

The Israeli Supreme Court on Monday accepted petitions challenging the State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman's investigation into the October 7 massacre. The ruling addressed eight audit procedures, determining that in four of them, the Comptroller exceeded his authority. In four additional audits, the court found that the preparation of draft reports violated the right to a fair hearing for those potentially affected, requiring their input before finalizing the drafts.

The court ordered the State Comptroller to cease activities related to the four audits deemed beyond his mandate. However, the Comptroller may continue with the other four audits but must ensure full procedural fairness, including granting affected parties the right to respond before finalizing reports. The ruling did not affect other reports on the October 7 events, some already published and others pending, which were not subject to the petitions.

The first petition focused on four reports: economic warfare against terror (including Gaza's "regulation policy"); border defense with Gaza; intelligence community and political echelon responses to Hamas's attack plans, including intelligence oversight and IDF transparency; and the events of October 7 involving the political echelon, IDF, and Shin Bet. Justice Daphne Barak-Erez emphasized that the State Comptroller's authority is limited to audits comparing actions to legal norms, not investigations aimed at fact-finding. She ruled that these four audits overstepped the legal boundaries, particularly as they touched on core foreign policy and security strategy matters, which lack clear norms and fall outside the Comptroller's remit.

Justice Ofer Groskopf concurred but based his reasoning on the need to avoid overlap with the official state commission of inquiry into the October 7 events, which has broader investigative powers. He stressed that the Comptroller's audits should focus on decision-making processes and implementation, not policy questions.

The second petition concerned four other audits: government public diplomacy in the international arena; handling of civilian casualties from October 7; the "Nova" party in the Re'im parking lot, including approval and security preparations; and defensive readiness of southern cities related to October 7. Draft reports had been circulated for comment. The court ruled that affected individuals must be granted full rights to respond before drafts are finalized, not afterward. Justice Groskopf added that even before draft preparation, hearing those potentially subject to personal conclusions was warranted in these circumstances.