Father of Slain Hostage Guy Illouz: State Commission of Inquiry 'Not a Tool to Topple the Government'

Michel Illouz, father of hostage Guy Illouz — who was wounded and kidnapped fleeing the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023 and later died of his wounds in Gaza captivity — addressed the Movement for Quality Government's weekly protest at Tel Aviv's Habima Square on Saturday night, September 5, 2026, before roughly 150 attendees. Illouz said a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 failures 'is not vengeance, not a tool to topple the government,' but rather 'a democratic country's way of saying, a disaster happened here, we need to understand why.' He linked the demand to the broader protest theme of preserving checks and balances, saying Israel 'can't dismantle' the mechanisms that hold government accountable to the law. Protesters and counterprotesters, including right-wing provocateur Mordechai David and supporters, clashed near the square; police intervened.