Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed his intelligence chiefs on Sunday, saying they failed to warn him that Hamas was planning a large-scale attack on Oct. 7, causing a political uproar and a schism within his war cabinet.
Netanyahu, who has faced public criticism for not accepting responsibility for Hamas’ rampage through southern Israel, later deleted the remarks posted on social media platform X at 1 a.m. Sunday (around 2300 GMT on Saturday). While top officials, including the heads of the military and the Shin Bet domestic spy service, as well as his finance minister, have all admitted to failings, Netanyahu has not. He has only stated that there will be time after the war to ask difficult questions, including those about himself.
When asked about Netanyahu’s remarks during a daily press briefing, Israel’s military spokesperson declined to comment, saying, “We are now at war, focused on the war.” According to Netanyahu’s post, “at no time and at no stage was a warning given to Prime Minister Netanyahu regarding Hamas’s war intentions.” On the contrary, all security officials, including the head of army intelligence and the Shin Bet director, believed Hamas was deterred and interested in a deal.” Current and former allies, including Benny Gantz, a former defense minister who now serves in Netanyahu’s war cabinet, quickly condemned the remarks. Gantz stated on X, formerly Twitter, that Netanyahu should retract his remarks and drop the matter. “When we are at war, leadership must show responsibility, decide to do the right things and bolster the forces in a way that they can carry out what we demand of them,” Gantz told the crowd. When asked about Netanyahu’s remarks during a daily press briefing, Israel’s military spokesperson declined to comment.
The surprise Hamas attack killed the most people in Israel’s 75-year history. Israel has since bombarded the Gaza Strip with devastating air strikes and launched ground operations in an attempt to destabilize the Iran-backed Islamist group and return scores of Israeli captives to Gaza.
“I saw his Twitter (the former name for X) from overnight, which points to just one thing: he is not interested in security, he is not interested in hostages, he is only interested in politics,” opposition lawmaker Avigdor Lieberman, who was once Netanyahu’s defense minister, said on radio.
Yossi Cohen, former head of the Mossad spy agency under previous Netanyahu administrations, told Israel Radio, “You take responsibility from the beginning of your job, not the middle.”
