Report: PMO rejects freedom of information request for relevant IDF intel documents ahead of Hamas attack

The Prime Minister’s Office has rejected a freedom of information request for all or any documents that Benjamin Netanyahu received from the IDF Intelligence Branch in 2023 warning ahead of October 7 of the possibility of an attack by Hamas, Channel 12 news reports.

It says the IDF has stated that four “warning letters” were sent, but that the PMO has denied that it received any warning about a possible attack by Hamas from Gaza, and that all the Intelligence Branch documents it received prior to the invasion and slaughter assessed that Hamas was deterred from attacking.

The request for the material was made in a June 16 letter sent to the IDF and the PMO by the Movement for Freedom of Information and the Hatzlacha Movement for the Promotion of a Fair Society. After some back and forth, the PMO replied with a final rejection two days ago, the report says.

The initial request asked for “all the documents, interactions, assessments and briefings sent to the PM and his representatives in the course of 2023 regarding the dangers, risks and possible implications stemming from social processes, and their connection to the likelihood of war or a deteriorating security situation regarding any element, including Hamas,” the report says.

After the PMO said it had received no such warnings, the two movements suggested that the PMO make public all the IDF intel material it received referencing Gaza, after it is approved by the military censor to make sure there is no harm to national security.

In response, the PMO said it had consulted with Netanyahu, and it had been decided that the documents could not be published in light of their “security classification” and ongoing “sensitivity.”

The PMO also said there was only a single one-on-one meeting between Netanyahu and then-IDF intelligence chief Aharon Haliva in 2023, the report says.

Haliva announced his resignation in April, taking personal responsibility for the failure to prevent the October 7 Hamas invasion and massacre, and stood down in August.