"Let the slaughterer fry and the fiddler play": The senior researcher clarifies - the Ministry of Transportation must not touch security
Ofer Shelah, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, clarifies that the Ministry of Transportation is not qualified to deal with security matters, and warns against the erosion of the concept of responsibility in Israel. He calls for public accountability on decision-makers, first and foremost the Prime Minister, and criticizes the absence of state commissions of inquiry.
Ofer Shelah, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), clarifies that the Ministry of Transportation should not purport to deal with security matters for which it is unqualified, thereby allowing security bodies to shirk their role. He argues that the concept of responsibility in Israel has been completely eroded, and that the public looks to commissions of inquiry out of a sense of helplessness. Shelah emphasizes that a state commission of inquiry is meant to investigate the truth and draw lessons, but is not intended to assign responsibility – responsibility is something that should be self-evident. He states that no state commission of inquiry is needed to know who is responsible for what happened on October 7, and that those responsible at the political level, first and foremost the Prime Minister, must bear their responsibility. Shelah warns that the fear is that the commission will get bogged down in countless laws and in the end there will be no accountability. Later, he addresses Israel's strategic position in 2026, arguing that Israel keeps all fronts open, has not reached an arrangement, and violated the arrangement on the Lebanon front from November 2024 to February 2026, which led to the renewal of the war against Hezbollah. He clarifies that Israel is not pursuing an arrangement.