Alongside the military campaign, the Israeli political class is in turmoil. During his first press conference on Saturday evening, October 28, Benjamin Netanyahu rejected questions about his share of responsibility for the October 7 fiasco, attacking army officials in a tweet published at 1:10 a.m. And this caused a public outcry.
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With our correspondent in Jerusalem, Michael Paul
This is unheard of. Israeli Prime Minister deletes message posted on social media. He apologizes and acknowledges having been wrong in the middle of the night and in the middle of war to have placed the responsibility for Israel’s unpreparedness on Saturday October 7 on the security forces.
These things should not have been said, he now claims. Previously, he had claimed in particular on the X network (former Twitter) that he had not been warned of Hamas’ war intentions, in particular by military intelligence and the Shin Bet, the internal security service.
Immediately, now Minister Benny Gantz, one of Benjamin Netanyahu’s main opponents, asked the Prime Minister to withdraw the message.
הבוקר הזה במיוחד אני מבקש לגבות ולחזק את כל גורמי הביטחון וחיילי צ ה”ל – כולל הרמטכ״ל, ראש אמ”ן וראש השב”כ. צריכה לגלות אחריות, להחליט לעשות את הדברים הנכונים ולחזק את הכוחות באופן שהם יוכלו לממש את שאנחנו דורשים מהם…
— בני גנץ – Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) October 29, 2023
Another rival, Yaïr Lapid, for his part, claims to have received, in his capacity as opposition leader, information from the intelligence services on the warlike intentions of Hamas as early as September.
מפני התלקחות רב לימה (מצרף אותה כאן). החומר המודיעיני שעליו הסתמכתי היה מונח גם בפני נתניהו.
מי שהביא את המודיעין, הם אותם אנשי מערכת הבטחון שנתניהו מאשים אותם עכשיו שלא הזהירו. pic.twitter.com/eEqmD5XxHW
— יאיר לפיד – Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) October 29, 2023
Chain reactions from the political class that an editorialist from the opposition daily Haaretz summarized in one title: “ In the midst of war against Hamas, Netanyahu declares war on the State of Israel “.
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