Netanyahu accused of trying to avoid responsibility for failure to foresee Hamas attack

JERUSALEM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to absolve himself of responsibility for the failure to predict the Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, the Haaretz newspaper reported Sunday.

The newspaper said Netanyahu is waging a campaign to place the blame on the Israeli army.

Haaretz quoted an unidentified military official who said "Netanyahu is orchestrating a campaign, collecting evidence against the army, and privately explaining why he should not be held responsible. He keeps reiterating that he did not receive the intelligence information."

The newspaper said Netanyahu appointed a spokesperson for coordinating with Israeli military correspondents just four days after the start of the war.

"Eli Feldstein previously served as a spokesperson for the West Bank Division of the army, which made him well-acquainted with military correspondents. He later became the spokesperson for the National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir," it said.

Several sources reportedly described the appointment as unusual, especially during wartime when the defense minister and chief of staff typically maintain continuous communication with military correspondents.

Last Friday, the Israeli news site Walla reported that Netanyahu "actively works on building his case against the army."

The site quoted sources close to the prime minister as saying that "his wife, Sara, asked him to gather all public and classified communications from the Security Cabinet meetings and discussions on defense issues."

She "also asked him to collect all quotes from senior current and former defense officials reflecting erroneous intelligence assessments regarding Hamas capabilities and intentions."

Haaretz noted that "since the start of the war, Netanyahu has met with various media heads in Israel for the first time in many years."

It also quoted an unnamed minister from his Likud party who said: "Anyone who thinks they can escape responsibility for the most severe failure since the establishment of the state is making a serious mistake."

With reference to the possible dissolution of the current government after the war, the minister said "the fate of this government was determined on Oct. 7, just as the fate of Likud was also settled on that Black Saturday. Things will not continue as they were before."

"Those who seek to evade their responsibilities will only worsen their situation as the Israeli public holds their anger," he added.

​​​​​​​*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala