Netanyahu claims security chiefs feared waking him before the October 7 attack, while denying he received an early warning from Egypt’s spy chief
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that intelligence and military chiefs feared waking him on the night of October 7, 2023, believing he could inadvertently trigger a Hamas attack, as he again blamed the security establishment for failing to anticipate the assault.“If we wake up the prime minister, he’ll cause Hamas to attack us without meaning to,” Netanyahu asserted the security chiefs believed, as quoted by The Times of Israel.Netanyahu said security officials had mistaken Hamas’s preparations for a military drill or a minor attack, despite signs that the Palestinian militant group was preparing for an assault.According to Netanyahu, officials had seen Hamas operatives putting Israeli SIM cards into their phones and senior Hamas commanders heading underground.
However, he said in the Channel 14 interview that, “they were locked in a conception that it was a drill, or a small thing.”Netanyahu claimed that had he been alerted, he would have ordered a stronger response before the attack unfolded.“If they had woken me up, they knew I’d have woken everybody and canceled Nova and put the air force on alert,” he said, referring to the Nova music festival, where hundreds of people were killed during the Hamas-led October 7 assault.
The prime minister has repeatedly blamed Israel’s security establishment for the failures surrounding the attack, while denying that he received and ignored advance warnings of a major assault from Gaza.
Egyptian spy chief’s visit
Netanyahu also confirmed reports that Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel had secretly flown to Israel days before the October 7 attack. Kamel reportedly warned Israeli officials that Hamas was planning a major assault if Israel did not agree to a deal involving the release of prisoners and economic concessions.Netanyahu, however, denied meeting or speaking with Kamel during the visit and said he did not know whom the Egyptian intelligence chief had met.“He didn’t meet with me,” Netanyahu said, adding that he had been attending a memorial ceremony for Israeli soldiers at the time.“He didn’t meet with me, he didn’t speak with me,” he continued. “When does an intelligence chief meet with a head of state?”“The head of the Egyptian intelligence was here. He spent something like 50 minutes on the ground.
I want to know who he met,” Netanyahu said.When reports of the warning emerged, Netanyahu had issued a statement saying, “No early message came from Egypt and the prime minister did not speak or meet with the intelligence chief since the establishment of the government, not indirectly or directly.”The reports about Kamel’s visit are among several allegations that Netanyahu received advance warnings of a possible Hamas attack but failed to act on them.
He has denied the allegations and attributed the intelligence failures to security officials.Netanyahu also rejected claims that he had blocked a viable Gaza deal that could have secured the earlier return of hostages and saved the lives of some who died in captivity. He argued that some were prepared to accept complete capitulation in Gaza, which he said was unacceptable and would not necessarily have secured the return of all hostages.