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War between Hamas and Israel
The secret defense document dated December 21, 2016 is signed by former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
Published on October 30, 2023 6:42 p.m
Reading time: 1 min
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a press conference in Tel Aviv, October 28, 2023. (ABIR SULTAN / POOL)
Benjamin Netanyahu knew it. While the Israeli prime minister has claimed since the Hamas attack on October 7 that he was never informed of Hamas’s intentions to go on the offensive, a secret defense document was published in the largest paid daily newspaper on Monday, October 30 from 2016 published in the country, Yediot Ahraronot.
The document is dated December 21, 2016 and is handwritten by former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman. It was personally sent to Benyamin Nétanayhou, already Prime Minister. Avigdor Liberman precisely describes the scenario of the October 7 attack with the offensive on Israeli villages, the risk of hostage-taking and the limits of the security barrier. “I am saying that Hamas is arming itself and coming to power,” Liberman said in an interview Saturday evening, according to the Times of Israel. “I make it clear that if we do not attack them before the end of 2017, they will.” “He is the one who will attack us. “It was mostly brushed aside by the military,” including Gadi Eisenkot, then chief of staff and current member of the war cabinet led by Benjamin Netanyahu.
The allegations were followed by excuses from Benjamin Netanyahu
On Saturday, October 28, the Prime Minister responded to questions from the Israeli press for the first time in more than nine months and categorically denied the existence of such a document. On Sunday, October 29, in a message posted on X (formerly Twitter), Benjamin Netanyahu criticized Israeli security officials for underestimating the risks of a major Hamas attack. The message was then deleted, followed by a second one in which Benjamin Netanyahu apologized.
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