The Netanyahus Spread Conspiracy Theories About October 7

Yair Golan is being targeted with a conspiracy theory built around the very action that made him a hero to many Israelis. The former major general drove south on his own initiative on October 7, 2023, and rescued young festivalgoers from Hamas attackers.

Golan now leads the Democrats, a merger of Israel’s Labor Party and the liberal Meretz party. The alliance is the only relevant political force that openly identifies with the Israeli left. Polls place it fourth among 12 parties that could enter parliament, with about 10 seats.

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If you are such a senior military officer and claim to have fought on October 7, to have been there early in the morning, already dressed and ready for action at a very early hour, while others knew nothing, including the prime minister.

That military record has generally left Golan with little room for attack from Israel’s right-religious coalition. Sara Netanyahu nevertheless suggested in a television interview that he had known about the planned attack in advance and kept that knowledge from the prime minister. She pointed to his early arrival in the south and his readiness for action, while Golan has said he left home only after the Hamas assault began.

Her comments have added a new dimension to a conspiracy narrative already circulating among Netanyahu supporters. They claim senior military officers deliberately concealed warnings from the prime minister to damage him politically. Benjamin Netanyahu reinforced the claim in an Instagram post, saying senior officers had intentionally failed to wake him because they knew he would mobilize the entire army. Critics view the narrative as an attempt to shift responsibility for security failures before and during the massacre. Channel 12, citing an unnamed source in Netanyahu’s Likud party, described Sara Netanyahu’s interview as a planned move.

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Senior military officers deliberately did not wake me at first because they knew that I would mobilize the entire army.