The former head of Israel’s domestic security agency Shin Bet has initiated a defamation lawsuit against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, alleging slander regarding responsibility for the October 7, 2023, attacks. Filed just ahead of a fiercely contested October 27 election where the Israeli regime is fighting for political survival, the legal action is set to significantly escalate the nation's severe political turmoil. In a 134-page court document, former Shin Bet director Ronen Bar accused Netanyahu of lying to cover himself and claimed it was defamatory to brand him with criminal failures concerning the assault.
Within the extensive court filings, Bar stated that he contacted the prime minister’s military secretary as soon as preliminary signs of a potential attack emerged, though he reportedly lacked Netanyahu’s direct contact number. Conversely, Netanyahu has maintained that he was never alerted by Bar on the morning of the Hamas-led assault, insisting that the tragedy could have been averted had security chiefs woken him up earlier. Bar’s lawsuit counters that Netanyahu made accusations he allegedly knew to be false, specifically designed to deflect public scrutiny away from his own multi-year policies that critics argue inadvertently bolstered the capabilities of militant factions in Gaza.
The legal challenge comes on the heels of explosive statements from Avi Gil, Netanyahu’s former military secretary, who told Israel’s Channel 12 that the prime minister's office allegedly falsified official records related to October 7, including altering the timestamp of a crucial early-morning phone call. Gil asserted that a staff member was instructed by Netanyahu's chief of staff to modify the call time, exposing potential manipulation of historical documentation. These developments compound earlier reports by foreign media outlets suggesting that Egyptian intelligence had also directly warned Netanyahu of an impending major operation just days prior.
With polls indicating a razor-thin race for Netanyahu to retain power amid unrelenting criticism from former officials, opposition figures, and the public, the political fallout continues to deepen. The ongoing legal and factual disputes underscore the profound institutional fractures remaining in the wake of the deadliest day in Israel's modern history.
Source: www.aljazeera.com