Top intel official twice warned Netanyahu that judicial overhaul was emboldening Hamas to strike — report

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly received two stark warnings from the head of research at the Military Intelligence Directorate in the months leading up to the October 7 onslaught that the societal divisions sparked by his government’s effort to radically overhaul the judiciary were emboldening Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran to take actions against the Jewish state.

“We are seeing a debate [among Israel’s enemies] over whether to sit on the fence and let Israel continue to weaken itself internally or to take initiatives and further exacerbate the situation,” Amir Sa’ar wrote in April and July letters sent directly to Netanyahu, Haaretz reports.

Each of the letters included intelligence that pointed to imminent danger of a military escalation by Israel’s adversaries, which Netanyahu appeared to have dismissed, as he continued to advance the highly controversial judicial overhaul, that sparked months of unprecedented protests across the country.