Sara Netanyahu sparks controversy with conspiracy suggestion about Yair Golan

Sara Netanyahu has turned a celebrated account of Yair Golan's actions on October 7 into a campaign controversy, hinting that the opposition politician may have known about Hamas's attack before it began.

In an interview with the right-wing broadcaster C14, the prime minister's wife questioned how Golan, a highly decorated former general, could have reached southern Israel so early that morning. Golan is widely regarded as a hero of the attack because he drove there on his own and helped rescue young people from the fighting.

Sara Netanyahu contrasted his movements with those of her husband, saying Benjamin Netanyahu had not yet known about the events at that early hour. Hamas's assault began at 6:29 a.m. local time. Golan has said in interviews that he put on his old uniform at about 8 a.m., or somewhat later, and headed south to fight.

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wild incitement

Israeli media described her remarks as support for conspiracy theories claiming that army or intelligence officials knew about Hamas's plans but failed to inform Netanyahu. Netanyahu has continued to reject responsibility for the failures surrounding October 7. The attack killed about 1,200 people in Israel and saw more than 250 others taken to Gaza, according to the report.

Golan called the interview "wild incitement" against him and said he would sue Sara Netanyahu. Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu's main rival in the October 27 election and a former military chief, called it "a crazy conspiracy theory of treason that has no factual basis." Opinion polls cited in the report suggested that neither Netanyahu's bloc nor its opponents were likely to win an outright majority.

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a crazy conspiracy theory of treason that has no factual basis