Chikli says he ‘rejects’ idea that government should apologize for October 7

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli suggests the current government has nothing to apologize for in regards to Hamas’s October 7 massacre.

“I think that asking me to say ‘I’m sorry’ is essentially placing blame on us — as though we did it deliberately. And that is something I reject,” Chikli says during an interview with the Kan public broadcaster’s Reshet Bet radio station.

“The people who pushed for the Oslo Accords, who pushed for the [Gaza] disengagement — those are the people who should apologize,” he continues. “There is a limit to what I’m willing to hear from people who, all along the way, promoted the very policies that brought us to these catastrophes. I opposed the disengagement and the Oslo Accords. What do you mean, apologize to the residents of the Gaza border communities?”

Chikli admits to a “serious security failure” ahead of October 7, which he says should be studied. “But when it’s presented as though I intentionally caused harm, as though there was some kind of malice involved, that’s just not where I am.”

Benjamin Netanyahu served as prime minister from 2009 to 2021 and from 2022 to the present day. He has rejected calls for a state commission of inquiry into October 7 and has largely sought to deflect any blame for failing to prevent the attack.