Likud minister walks back comments denying government has responsibility for Hamas onslaught

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi walked back remarks he made just an hour ago claiming that the government did not have a reason to apologize for its failures leading to the Hamas brutal onslaught against Israel on October 7.

In comments to Army Radio, Karhi said “I keep hearing ‘apologize, take responsibility, ask for forgiveness’ — for what?”

After a wave of criticism, Karhi issued an apology in which he said that the quote was taken out of context: “I apologize! God forbid I did not intend to sound crass or to shirk responsibility. The opposite! I immediately added that of course there is responsibility for leadership — my intention was to say that we should not be dealing with that during a time of war.”

Karhi is the same minister who earlier this year said that IDF pilots who said they would refuse to serve after the government’s judicial overhaul should “go to hell.”