Israel’s October 7 Dispute Deepens as Netanyahu Targets Former Security Chiefs

Israel’s dispute over responsibility for the October 7 attack has widened, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blaming former security chiefs and his wife facing a threatened lawsuit over her own accusations.

In a statement posted on X, Netanyahu said there had been many indications that an attack was coming. He claimed former military chief Herzi Halevi and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar knew about the signs. “The most natural thing to do would have been to wake me, but they did not wake me. The question is, why did they not wake me?” Netanyahu said.

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The most natural thing to do would have been to wake me, but they did not wake me. The question is, why did they not wake me?

The prime minister used the claim to defend himself over the failure to prevent the attack. He has previously said there was no betrayal in the military and intelligence services, but rather a failure. His latest remarks nevertheless placed direct responsibility on former senior security officials for not contacting him in time.

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You were such a senior-ranking officer, you claim you were fighting on October 7, and very early that morning, when even the prime minister and others did not yet know, you were dressed, ready and there.

Sara Netanyahu made a separate accusation in an interview with Channel 14 against Yair Golan, a former deputy military chief and leader of the Democrats party. She pointed to Golan’s early arrival at the Gaza border on October 7 and suggested that his presence could indicate prior knowledge. “You were such a senior-ranking officer, you claim you were fighting on October 7, and very early that morning, when even the prime minister and others did not yet know, you were dressed, ready and there,” she said.

Asked whether there had been internal betrayal, Sara Netanyahu did not give a clear denial. “I do not want to talk about it. I do not know. A genuine commission of inquiry must be established,” she said. Golan responded to the interview on army radio and announced that he would sue her. The Democrats party condemned what it called Sara Netanyahu’s defamatory and false statements. Both Netanyahus have attributed the failure to stop the attack to the army and security bureaucracy’s failure to call the prime minister in time.

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I do not want to talk about it. I do not know. A genuine commission of inquiry must be established.