‘I sinned’: Ex-Netanyahu loyalist apologizes for creating ‘weakness’ that led to Oct. 7

A member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party publicly apologizes for her conduct over the past year, saying she and others created deep divisions among the Israeli public that weakened the nation and paved the way to the Hamas onslaught of October 7 and the ensuing months-long war.

Galit Distel-Atbaryan served as public diplomacy minister in the hard-right government formed a year ago, and was a staunch proponent of the deeply divisive judicial overhaul program, occasionally using strong language to lambaste its critics.

She resigned from her ministerial role days into the current war, acknowledging that her newly created ministry had been unnecessary, powerless and a “waste of public money.” She has since said she has “burning anger” against Netanyahu.

“There were about 100 people who drove 9 million toward an abyss,” she tells Channel 13 news, which provides a snippet from an interview to be fully broadcast tonight. “From politics, from the media, social media influencers.

“I was part of the group that caused the state to weaken, that harmed people, that harmed citizens who in daily life are my friends, are my partner,” she says.

“It hit me in a second, suddenly, in a bang. You suddenly realize that everything you were doing and thinking was good, was bad. I created a rift, and I created division, and I created tension, and this tension caused a weakness. And this weakness, in many aspects, led to the massacres [by Hamas on October 7],” she says.

“I am here, telling you and the democratic-secular public — I sinned before you. I caused you pain, I caused you to fear for your lives here. I apologize for this.”