Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now admits for the first time that the staff in his military secretariat received a message the night before October 7 containing several signs indicating that Hamas was preparing for an attack.
Israel National News
The Prime Minister’s Office admitted for the first time on Saturday night that staff in his military secretariat received a message the night before October 7 that Hamas was preparing for a major attack.
According to the office, an update on the security developments in Gaza was passed during the night to Military Secretary Avi Gil, but he chose not to wake Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, following an assessment that ‘this was not an urgent event.’
‘The intelligence officer in the Prime Minister’s military secretariat received a message the night before October 7 presenting several indicative signs, immediately forwarded it verbatim to the Military Secretary—but given the determination in the message that it was not an ‘urgent event’, he chose not to wake him from his sleep,’ it was stated.
The statement from the Prime Minister’s Office followed a report by Amit Segal of Channel 12 News, which said that IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi accused the intelligence officer at the Prime Minister’s Office of acting with a lack of integrity, as he did not inform Prime Minister Netanyahu that he knew of Hamas’ preparations on the eve of the attack and did not update him.
The Prime Minister’s Office responded, ‘It is very unfortunate that the Chief of Staff chooses to publicly attack a principled and reliable officer in the IDF in an attempt to shift the responsibility for the October 7 failure onto his subordinates.’
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu was first updated only at 6:29 a.m., after Hamas launched the deadly attack on the communities near the Gaza border. The statement criticized the IDF, noting that the intelligence officer in the military secretariat ‘was not questioned, was not invited to the presentation of the IDF’s investigations, and was even denied attendance after requesting it.’ Only on the day of the conference itself, after the intelligence investigations were presented, was approval granted for the officer to attend.
In conclusion, the Prime Minister’s Office emphasized that Netanyahu has full confidence in the military secretariat of his office and accused the Chief of Staff of attempting to place the responsibility on the lower military echelons.