Netanyahu clarifies that he is not accusing security officials of ‘betrayal’ on Oct. 7, just ‘failure’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu puts out a video on social media clarifying that he is not accusing top security officials of “betrayal” during the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre, just “failure.”

In the video, Netanyahu is asked about comments made on the news this evening that he and his wife were deliberately stoking conspiracy theories, and implying top officials knew of the Hamas plans ahead of time.

“Complete nonsense,” Netanyahu says.

“They have asked me several times, do I think there was a betrayal, and I said ‘no, I don’t think there was a betrayal, I think there was a failure, a great failure.'”

“And it can be found in the night, and the morning before the attack when there were all the signs and they decided — because of a fear of a miscalculation, so as not to annoy Hamas — not to wake me up, and not to attack before hand. That’s the failure, but it’s not betrayal.”

His video comes after Netanyahu claimed during an Instagram livestream that senior IDF and defense officials deliberately chose not to wake him in the hours before the attack.

Yesterday, his wife, Sara Netanyahu, peddled a conspiracy theory targeting Democrats party leader Yair Golan, insinuating without evidence that Golan had advance notice of the onslaught. Golan has said he will sue her for libel if she does not apologize. She has refused.

Channel 12’s political correspondent says these appear to be deliberate moves by the Netanyahu family to reframe the narrative surrounding the failures of October 7, ahead of the upcoming elections.

She quotes a Likud source as saying: “Sara Netanyahu’s comment was not a random remark. There is a decision by the family to spread conspiracy theories in the time leading up to the election to distance Netanyahu from the massacre at any cost.”