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Saturday, March 1, 2025
Netanyahu’s office hits back at IDF chief after report claimed PM’s aide was warned about Hamas
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleLazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
The Prime Minister’s Office accuses IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi of trying to shirk responsibility for the October 7 attacks, after the top commander is quoted in a news report blasting the premier’s intelligence officer for not passing on information hours before terrorists poured across the border.
“It is very unfortunate that the Chief of Staff chooses to publicly attack a moral and trustworthy officer in the IDF,” says the PMO in a statement, “while attempting to shift the responsibility for the October 7 lapse onto his subordinates.”
According to Channel 12, the IDF drafted a document setting out the numerous worrying signs of Hamas activity in Gaza at 3:30 on the morning of October 7 and sent the document to the intelligence officers of seven key Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. His intelligence officer received the document but did not pass the information up the chain, the report says.
The report quotes Halevi as saying: “If the prime minister’s intelligence officer was a person of integrity, he should already have told [Netanyahu] that he knew about [Hamas preparations just before the attack] and did not update [Netanyahu]. [The officer] did not do this.”
The PMO, in its statement, says the intelligence officer received the message along with a report that Hamas was operating as usual and that the IDF Southern Command would hold a discussion in the morning. The officer forwarded the message to Netanyahu’s military secretary, but given that the message did not indicate any urgency, decided not to wake him up.
This would mark the first time Netanyahu’s office has admitted that a warning came in overnight, and not as the attack was being launched.
Netanyahu’s office adds that the intelligence officer was not interviewed as part of the IDF investigations and was not allowed to attend the presentation of the findings.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu has full confidence in the military secretariat of his office,” his office says.
The Times of Israel Community.