In letter to state comptroller, Eisenkot blasts Netanyahu’s ‘fabricated,’ ‘manipulative,’ answers to Oct. 7 probe

Former IDF chief of staff and ex-Knesset member Gadi Eisenkot writes to State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman to accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of submitting a “fabricated defense” in response to the comptroller’s October 7 investigation.

Last night, Netanyahu released the full 55-page document of his answers given to the state comptroller as part of the ombudsman’s investigation into the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led atrocities. In it, he pinned the failure to prevent the onslaught on political rivals and security chiefs, including Eisenkot, while presenting himself in a positive light and reducing his responsibility for the attack.

In his answers to Englman, Netanyahu sought to build the case, with partial, curated quotes from cabinet protocols, that he repeatedly pushed for assassinating Hamas leaders, but security chiefs consistently argued against the idea. The prime minister has the authority, subject to legal challenge, to release and redact such materials.

Now, Eisenkot charges in a letter to Englman that Netanyahu “constructed and published a fabricated defense adapted to his needs from confidential minutes, while abusing his exclusive authority to see and publish minutes from sensitive meetings.”

“The situation in which one of the main responsible parties, if not the main and foremost one, can publish misleading and false statements and gain an advantage over all the other witnesses, is an unacceptable situation,” continues Eisenkot, who, since leaving the Knesset, has formed his own political party to run in the elections later this year.

Continuing, Eisenkot accuses Netanyahu of using secretive documents deliberately in an election year “out of a desire to improve his image, distance himself from blame, and harm the other candidates facing him.”

Eisenkot requests that the State Comptroller’s Office allow the relevant people to review the full minutes of the meetings referenced by the premier in his “partial and manipulative” response, and tells Englman that he will be happy to “set the record straight” regarding his own actions during his time as IDF chief.