In a late-night tweet on Saturday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated earlier claims that he had not been warned by security chiefs of an impending Hamas attack and claimed that all security chiefs had consistently assured him that Hamas would be deterred, drawing sharp criticism of the apparent attempt to blame them and evade responsibility for the disaster. He deleted the post about nine hours later and issued a rare apology shortly after.
“Contrary to the false claims: Prime Minister Netanyahu was never warned of Hamas’ war intentions under any circumstances and at any time,” said the original tweet, posted shortly after 1 a.m. local time, hours after Netanyahu held a joint press conference with Defense Minister Yoav had Gallant and Minister Benny Gantz.
The tweet continued: “On the contrary, all security officials, including the head of military intelligence and the head of the Shin Bet, were of the opinion that Hamas had been deterred and was looking for a solution. This assessment was repeatedly presented to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet by all security forces and intelligence agencies until the outbreak of war.”
At the news conference, Netanyahu was asked about a warning about Hamas’s plans for an attack, allegedly given by the head of the Shin Bet and the head of the IDF’s military intelligence, and said the question was “inaccurate.”
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About an hour after deleting the post, Netanyahu issued a rare apology for the statement, writing on X late Sunday morning: “I was wrong. The things I said after the press conference should not have been said and I apologize for that.”
He added: “I give full support to all heads of the security services.” I send strength to them [IDF] Chief of Staff and the commanders and soldiers of the IDF who are on the front lines fighting for our homeland.”
Netanyahu’s statement, which appeared to blame security officials for the failures that led to the Oct. 7 massacre rather than taking responsibility himself, was met with sharp criticism on Sunday morning, including within his emergency government.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks (left) with Defense Minister Yoav Galant (center) and National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz (right) during a joint press conference at the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv. October 28, 2023. (Dana Kopel/POOL)
“The Prime Minister must retract his statement and stop dealing with this matter,” Gantz tweeted on Sunday in response. This appeared to be the first public disagreement between the two since the National Unity Party leader joined the coalition after the outbreak of war.
“Right this morning, I want to support and strengthen all security forces and IDF soldiers, including the IDF chief of staff, the head of military intelligence and the head of the Shin Bet,” Gantz added. “When we are at war, the leadership must show responsibility, make the right decisions and strengthen the armed forces so that they understand what we are asking of them… The Prime Minister must withdraw his statement.”
Opposition leader Yair Lapid, who has refused to join the emergency war government, tweeted that “Netanyahu crossed a red line tonight” and must apologize.
“As IDF soldiers and officers fight bravely against Hamas and Hezbollah, [the PM] tries to blame them instead of supporting them. Efforts to evade responsibility and blame the security establishment are weakening the IDF as it fights Israel’s enemies,” Lapid said.
Former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, considered a close ally of Netanyahu, said on Kan public radio Sunday morning: “You take responsibility at the beginning of your job, not halfway through.” Cohen noted that when he led the Mossad, “Everything that happened in the agency, from top to bottom, was my responsibility.”
Cohen, who left office in June 2021, said he did not want to address “whether there were any warnings leading up to the devastating Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.”
Cohen added that he has not had access to intelligence reports since leaving office, but that intelligence community leaders are ultimately responsible for understanding intelligence reports and relaying that information to the appropriate channels.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and Mossad chief Yossi Cohen during a Jewish New Year toasting ceremony on October 2, 2017 (Haim Zach/GPO)
The far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir also joined in the criticism of Netanyahu’s now-deleted post, writing: “The problem is not specific warnings, but the entire wrong concept.” The containment policy, the imaginary deterrence and the purchase of temporary calm at an exorbitant level Price was the cause of the entire problem.
However, Ben Gvir added that such a discussion was “not for the moment” but that there would be “a lot of time for accountability afterwards,” alluding to the position he is likely to take towards Netanyahu’s policies after the war take will contain Hamas.
Netanyahu’s late-night tweet came just hours after the prime minister answered questions from reporters for the first time since the outbreak of war during a news conference Saturday evening alongside Gallant and Gantz.
During this appearance, the prime minister once again shied away from taking direct responsibility for the Palestinian terror group’s deadly attack.
“After the war, everyone has to give answers, including me,” he said, repeating comments he made earlier in the week. But, he stressed, “there was a terrible debacle.”
He also refused to commit to setting up a State Commission of Inquiry – the most powerful and consequential investigative body – to investigate the failures that enabled Hamas’s atrocities. “No stone will be left unturned,” he said, adding that his focus at the moment is only on winning and “saving the state.”
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and IDF chief Herzi Halevi, October 23, 2023. (Kobi Gideon / GPO)
Netanyahu was also asked whether his government’s judicial reform efforts had diverted attention from security challenges, saying legislative proposals to weaken the courts were “no longer on the agenda” and differences had been resolved in the face of war.
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, which began with a brutal surprise attack by Hamas, questions have surrounded the government’s responsibility for the intelligence and operational failures that made the cross-border attack possible.
On October 7, over 2,500 Hamas-led terrorists crossed the Gaza border and began a murderous rampage through the southern regions, killing over 1,400 people, most of them civilians. The gunmen also kidnapped more than 230 people, including the elderly and young children, who are now being held captive in Gaza.
Hamas terrorists breached Israel’s security perimeter around Gaza under the cover of thousands of rockets and then operated with relative impunity for most of Saturday.