Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem admitted for the first time on Saturday that it had received but did not pass on an alert from the security establishment, just hours before the tragic Hamas Oct. 7 invasion and attack on Israel’s southern Gaza border communities.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) justified its decision by claiming that the document alert it received was defined as “non-urgent.” The PMO’s admission followed a report from Israel’s Channel 12 News that stated that the IDF had crafted a document expressing concern about several signs of irregular Hamas activity in Gaza during the night preceding the early morning attack.
The Channel 12 report quoted the IDF officer Moshe Schneid, who led the military’s intelligence investigation, saying, “I didn’t check what went on there [in the chain of command in the Prime Minister’s Office] because I was very wary of probing the political echelon. I met the prime minister’s intelligence officer several times in the street and I was careful not even to ask him about it.”
The report also quoted outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi who assessed that “even though this could have helped us in the face of the bad things that are being said about us, we are very responsible and discreet. It’s a shame this is not reciprocated.”
Halevi also blasted Netanyahu’s intelligence officer.
“If the prime minister’s intelligence officer was a person of integrity, he should already have told [Netanyahu] that he knew about [Hamas preparations just before the attack] and did not update [Netanyahu]. [The officer] did not do this,” Halevi argued.
On several occasions, the prime minister argued that he didn’t receive any specific security warnings before the Hamas invasion. Despite acknowledging its failure to pass on the intelligence document, the PMO responded by accusing Halevi of attempting to shift blame from the military to the political leadership.
“It is very unfortunate that the chief of staff chooses to publicly attack a moral and trustworthy officer in the IDF,” Netanyahu’s office stated, adding “while attempting to shift the responsibility for the October 7 lapse onto his subordinates.”
“Prime Minister Netanyahu has full confidence in the military secretariat of his office,” the PMO emphasized.
The military intelligence warning had reportedly been sent to seven senior Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The report also claimed that Gallant did not receive the alert because the defense minister’s office was unable to reach Gallant’s intelligence officer.
Hamas terrorists massacred 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped 251, living and deceased, during the attack on Oct. 7, 2023, the day that has become known as the “Black Shabbat.”
Israelis are demanding answers from the country’s political and military leadership on how the deadliest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust could occur within the borders of a militarily powerful Jewish state.
In a public statement in late January, IDF chief Halevi announced his resignation from the military, assuming responsibility for the military’s failure to prevent the Oct. 7 attack.
“On the morning of October 7, under my command, the IDF failed in its mission to protect Israel’s citizens. The State of Israel paid a heavy and painful price – in lives lost, in hostages taken, and in those wounded both physically and emotionally,” Halevi said. “My responsibility for this terrible failure accompanies me every day, every hour, and will remain with me for the rest of my life.”
Several other top IDF officers have already resigned from their posts. However, to date, no senior official from the Israeli political echelon has publicly admitted responsibility and resigned from his or her post.
While Gallant supported a state inquiry into the Oct. 7 attack, he did not resign but was ultimately fired by Netanyahu last year due to political differences.
I will say it for 100th time until it changes:
Why in a country of 8 million Jews surrounded 450 million Arab Muslims along with 87,000,000 in Iran and 91,000,000 in Turkey does Israel require a “permit” to have a hand gun and then restrict permit holders to few dozen rounds of ammunition.
170,000 – permit holders before October 7th
185,000 – permit requests since then
That is insane. Why does the Left since Ben Gurion not trust Israeli Jews with a hand gun?
You need a “permit” to prevent your wife from getting raped and your children murdered by insane Muslim fanatics? Then if you watch October 7th videos, Hamas has fully automatic rifles and you pull out your Glock 9mm with 13 rounds in it?
“Never Again” – What does that exactly mean? The police will save you? Nope. The IDF will save you? Well, we know that did not happen until way, way too late.
So, Israeli Jews must be allowed to protect themselves and their families or “Never Again” are just words.
It’s easy to get lost in the weeds of who said what to whom, but the Israeli intelligence failure has deep roots in the entire way Hamas was characterized by the defense and intelligence agencies. Hamas was seen by these agents of the deep state as “deterred.” Hamas was seen as not interested in war with Israel.
Fransisco Gil-White has pointed out that Jews have a problem of wanting to live normal lives, and, after an attack or even a holocaust, Jews just want the death and destruction over. That in and of itself is understandable. But what this begets is seriously troubling: it means Jewish leaders in Israel and the diaspora are quick to overlook the signs that another attack is on its way. The Jewish leaders in the diaspora have completely abandoned the Jews to Jew hatred that has been normalized in the US since Obama’s presidency. And don’t even get me started on what the UK and EU leaders have done or not done to protect Jews. The Jewish leaders are part of the “establishment” and don’t want to lose their place in that establishment by seeing the Jew hatred for what it is and fighting it.
In Israel something similar happens. Defense and Intelligence agencies overlook actionable intelligence that Hamas is preparing an attack because they decided years ago that Hamas was “deterred.”
In addition, governments throughout Israel’s history negotiate with terrorists for hostages by allowing the freeing of mass murderers from prisons who then go out and start the next massacre. Isn’t Israel responsible for those decisions? Why don’t Israeli leaders see that they are encouraging and supporting the murderers and hostage takers and instead, refuse to negotiate with terrorists. PERIOD. I am sure the families will be upset, but Israel cannot put itself in a position where it is essentially begging to be murdered again.
In this Netanyahu is no different from other PMs who have done similar things. But is there any leader in Israel who is going to stay the course and not pretend to him or herself that there is no reason to worry? Is there a leader in Israel who will not dilly dally after making it clear to Hamas that if the hostages are not released all hell will break loose? The dilly dallying may be tactical or it may just be more of what we have seen over and over: Jewish leaders afraid to deal the Islamo-Nazis a death blow. To be fair, some of that over Israel’s history was imposed on Israel by the US but now there is no excuse for it.
At this point the real unbiased truth about what happened still matters, but it is equally important to set forth a new Israeli policy that doesn’t mollycoddle the mass murderers who surround Israel.
I think Israel should execute those who commit mass murders against Jews. Right now, there is no way to establish deterrence, and even that might not work, but why should Jews pay taxes to support mass murderers in prison for life and then set them free when the country is experiencing a holocaust? Current policy makes no sense anymore, if it ever did.
How long should it take to cut off the water, electricity, humanitarian food aid and start taking back Gaza inch by inch?