Bennett: Netanyahu asking Oct. 7 victims to ‘thank him’ after Likud touts PM’s wartime achievements on 3rd anniversary

By Ariela Karmel

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

A photo released by the Government Press Office in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he honored the victims murdered on October 7, which includes an image of Yuval Castleman, erroneously killed by an armed civilian during a Jerusalem terror attack, released on October 7, 2026 (Prime Minister's Office)

B’Yachad leader Naftali Bennett accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of demanding gratitude from the victims of the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre rather than taking responsibility for the disaster, after Likud’s sole statement yesterday on the third anniversary of the attacks only briefly commemorated the dead before absolving the premier of responsibility and crediting him with wartime achievements.

“Instead of taking responsibility, the prime minister asks the victims to thank him,” Bennett tells Army Radio. “One who behaves like this is neither a man nor a human being.”

Likud’s statement yesterday was devoted to denying that Netanyahu bore any responsibility for the Hamas-led attack, while crediting him with the “tremendous success” of “returning every hostage,” “conquering” Gaza, military successes against Hezbollah, and preventing Iran’s nuclear annihilation of Israel, among other things.

Forty-six hostages abducted alive were killed in captivity, mostly by their captors but some by IDF fire while negotiations were repeatedly thwarted, including by threats from Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners to topple his government. Despite major military blows, Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran’s regime remain intact.

The Prime Minister’s Office’s only statement yesterday was a photograph of Netanyahu beside portraits of “victims murdered on October 7 by the monsters of Hamas” – including Yuval Castleman, who was in fact killed by an armed civilian while confronting terrorists in a Jerusalem terror attack on November 30, 2023.

Meanwhile, neither Netanyahu nor any members of his government appeared to attend last night’s main memorial ceremony in Tel Aviv, organized by survivors and bereaved families and attended by 50,000 people, including numerous opposition leaders.

The premier has never accepted direct responsibility for the failures that enabled the October 7 massacre, instead repeatedly deflecting blame onto the military and intelligence establishment, opposition politicians and anti-government protesters.