October 7 families to hold mass rally demanding state inquiry three days before Israeli elections

Just three days before the Knesset elections, the October Council will protest at Hostage Square at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24, it announced on the third anniversary of the October 7 massacre.

The rally is “intended to place the demand of the October 7 families – for a full investigation into the failure, the determination of responsibility, and the drawing of lessons – at the center of the public agenda,” the October Council said in a statement.

The rally will be led by bereaved families, former hostages and their families, and residents of the Gaza Envelope, as well as citizens who have been advocating alongside the council for more than two years to demand the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the events of October 7.

The rally will be attended by the leaders of the political parties who have pledged to establish a state commission of inquiry. Yashar’s Gadi Eisenkot; B’Yachad co-leaders Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid; Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Liberman; and Democrats leader Yair Golan are reportedly expected to attend.

The council has marked it as the “last major public event” before the elections.

Hostage families demand establishment of a state commission of inquiry, backed by party leaders 

The council is composed of more than 1,500 bereaved families, former hostages, and survivors of the massacre and previously accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s circle of attempting to erase the memory of the October 7 attack.

The council has repeatedly called for the establishment of a state commission of inquiry to investigate the October 7 attack, reportedly asserting that “those who deny its significance should not be allowed to bury the truth”.

The state commission of inquiry has the capacity to conduct comprehensive investigations and make recommendations that are both personal and systemic.

Despite Netanyahu’s repeated pledges that those responsible, himself included, would be held to account, Israel has yet to establish a commission of inquiry into the intelligence, military, and political failures surrounding October 7. 

Legislation proposing a coalition-backed, politically appointed commission of inquiry passed its first reading in the Knesset in July 2026. The bill passed with 59 votes in favor, with the opposition boycotting the vote and arguing that the legislation was an attempt to block a genuine investigation by a state commission.

The bill did not complete its final readings before the Knesset dissolved. However, the coalition brought it to a first reading so it could be carried over under the continuity law and resume in the next Knesset.