'Israeli' ex-Defense chief says he was unaware of foreign pre-Oct. 7 warnings

• Gallant stated that withholding foreign intelligence warnings from senior defense leadership represents a fundamental failure in situation assessment rather than a political asset.
• He confirmed that the Shin Bet received a pre-attack message from Yahya Sinwar threatening to "shake the prisons," which security officials initially misconstrued as relating to an 'Israeli' researcher in Iraq.
• He noted that Washington's trust in Netanyahu was low, with US officials often contacting Gallant directly to verify what the prime minister had stated.

Former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an interview with Army Radio on Sunday, accusing Netanyahu of excluding top military leadership from critical decision-making and failing to share high-level intelligence prior to the October 7, 2023 attack.

Addressing reports that leaders from Egypt and the United Arab Emirates had issued advance warnings to the prime minister, Gallant confirmed that he was never informed while in office and only learned of the advisories through recent press reports. 

He emphasized that if a prime minister receives foreign intelligence warnings and fails to convey them to defense officials, it represents a "grave failure"  in overall situation assessment rather than a political asset.

Gallant also disclosed that the Shin Bet received a pre-attack message conveyed by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar warning that he would cause the prisons to quake. 

The threat was reportedly funneled through a secret channel mediated by former Fatah official Sufian Abu Zaida, though ‘Israeli’ security officials initially misconstrued the warning as relating to a potential exchange for an ‘Israeli’ researcher held by a Shiite militia in Iraq.

Turning to wartime leadership, Gallant stated that Netanyahu routinely bypassed the defense establishment by holding sensitive, unannounced conversations with senior American officials regarding critical topics such as prisoner negotiations and ammunition shipments. 

Gallant stated that he frequently discovered details of these high-level talks only when US representatives called him directly to verify what Netanyahu had said, adding that Washington's trust in Netanyahu was notably low.

The revelations add to mounting public scrutiny and domestic pressure surrounding Netanyahu's handling of intelligence and security communications ahead of the upcoming general election.