Due to Netanyahu's tweet, responsibility for the failure to counter the Hamas attack resurfaces in Israel.

 

After previously stating that the military did not warn him about the Hamas attack on October 7th, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu retracted and apologized for his remarks. The government official had earlier mentioned in the now-deleted post that "there has never been any warning directed to the Prime Minister regarding Hamas's belligerent intentions. While top officials from the military establishment, the Shin Bet internal security agency, and his defense minister all acknowledged their failures, Netanyahu did not.

Netanyahu backtracked on Sunday regarding his statement that Israeli intelligence chiefs never warned him of the Palestinian Hamas movement's plans for a large-scale attack on October 7th, apologizing for it.

Netanyahu's now-deleted post on the X platform caused political turmoil and internal discord within his war government, as well as public outrage for not taking responsibility for "intelligence and operational failures related to Hamas's attack on southern Israel."

Although top security officials, including the army's intelligence chief and the Shin Bet head, admitted to the failures, Netanyahu did not. Instead, he stated that there would be a time for tough questions, including about himself, after the war.

When asked about Netanyahu's statements during a daily press conference, the Israeli military spokesperson declined to respond, stating, "We are currently in a state of war and focusing on the war."

Israeli officials stated that an investigation will be conducted into the events leading up to the handling of the Hamas attack itself, but the current focus is on the conflict.

In his deleted post, Netanyahu stated, "There has never been any warning directed to Prime Minister Netanyahu at any time or stage about Hamas's belligerent intentions. On the contrary, all security officials, including the army's intelligence chief and the Shin Bet head, estimated that Hamas was hesitant and interested in reaching a settlement."

In a second X post, about 10 hours later, Netanyahu wrote, "I was wrong," adding that his statements "should not have been made, and I apologize for that." He further stated, "I fully support all heads of security branches."

Current and former allies swiftly condemned Netanyahu's initial statements, particularly Benny Gantz, the current Defense Minister in Netanyahu's war government.

Gantz previously stated on the X, Twitter's former name, that the Prime Minister should retract what he said and set it aside.

He added, "When in a state of war, leadership must show responsibility, make the right decisions, and strengthen the forces in a way that enables them to carry out what we ask of them."

Hamas's sudden attack represents the bloodiest day in Israel's history. Since then, Israel has been bombing the Gaza Strip with devastating airstrikes and has launched ground operations to crush Iran-backed Hamas and retrieve dozens of hostages taken from Israel to Gaza.

Opposition lawmaker Avigdor Lieberman, who was Defense Minister in Netanyahu's government, stated in a radio interview, "I saw his account on Twitter (X's previous name) last night, and it indicates only one thing: he is not interested in security, not interested in hostages, but only interested in politics."

Yossi Cohen, who headed the Mossad in Netanyahu's previous governments, told Israel Radio, "You bear responsibility from the beginning of your tenure, not from its middle."