Netanyahu accuses ‘Israeli’ officials of deliberately not waking him on October 7

• Benjamin Netanyahu accused ‘Israeli’ security officials of deliberately failing to wake him on the morning of the October 7, 2023 events.
• The remarks come amid a growing debate in ‘Israel’ over responsibility for the security failures surrounding the events, ahead of elections expected later this year.

‘Israeli’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday accused senior security and military officials of deliberately failing to wake him as the October 7, 2023 events unfolded.

Netanyahu claimed the officials knew he would have ordered the military to raise its alert level immediately had he been informed of the situation.

“Why didn’t they wake me? Because they knew that I, as prime minister of ‘Israel’, would immediately order the entire military to go on alert and wake all the communities” bordering the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu said during a live Instagram interview.

He claimed the situation could have been contained had he been informed earlier, adding that the matter had been “hidden from the public.”

Netanyahu had previously said security officials failed to wake him that morning, but in recent days he has escalated the claim by suggesting the decision was deliberate.

In a podcast interview published Monday, Netanyahu blamed senior military commanders and Ronen Bar, who headed the ‘Israeli’ Shin Bet at the time, for failing to wake him.

“They did not believe Hamas would attack. They knew exactly what I would do,” Netanyahu said.

The claims come as a national debate continues in ‘Israel’ over who should bear responsibility for the security failures surrounding the October 7, 2023 events.

Netanyahu’s latest remarks came a day after his wife, Sara Netanyahu, claimed in a separate televised interview that former ‘Israeli’ deputy chief of staff Yair Golan, now leader of the center-left Democrats party, had prior knowledge of Hamas’s planned operation.

No evidence was publicly presented in the remarks cited to substantiate the claim.

Netanyahu is heading toward a fiercely contested election later this year, with the October 7 security failures expected to remain a major political issue.