Former Shin Bet chief intends to sue Netanyahu after being blamed for October 7 attack
Agencies4 min read
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Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar announced his intention to file a defamation lawsuit against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after the latter blamed him for the "failure" to anticipate the October 7, 2023 attack.
In a statement issued on Monday evening, Bar said that he "will also demand the disclosure of the schedule of Netanyahu's meetings with security establishment officials and foreign parties, in addition to summoning members of the Prime Minister's Office and his aides to testify" regarding what he described as a "manipulative campaign" waged against him by Netanyahu.
Bar added: "Prime Minister Netanyahu has launched an unbridled and unrealistic incitement campaign against the former Shin Bet chief. After refusing to take responsibility for three years and preventing the public by every means from forming an official commission of inquiry, he has begun selectively publishing documents in a manipulative manner and out of their true context."
He continued: "Now, as testimonies begin to emerge regarding the warnings he received before the massacre, Netanyahu is trying to divert attention away from himself by pointing fingers at those who warned him in real time."
According to the statement, Bar had warned Netanyahu, during his tenure as Shin Bet chief, of an "imminent catastrophe" in an unprecedented manner, and that the Prime Minister ignored those warnings, alongside recommendations concerning the restoration of deterrence and the strengthening of borders.
He added that he would have preferred to wait for the formation of the commission of inquiry that "the public and the families of the victims deserve," but considered that it was no longer possible to allow the continuation of what he described as a "torrent of lies, distortion of facts, manipulation of minutes, and dissemination of misleading information."
The former Shin Bet chief demanded that Netanyahu immediately disclose all documents, stressing that the lawsuit he intends to file will include summoning anyone who "falsified or forged documents and published false and offensive information" against him.
Bar concluded his statement by saying that "victory is achieved by launching a preemptive strike against the enemy abroad, not against the security forces at home."
Bar's statement, who served as Shin Bet chief between 2021 and 2025, came in the wake of Netanyahu accusing him of ignoring warnings regarding October 7 and failing to inform him.
In a statement earlier on Monday evening, Netanyahu denied that he had met during the months preceding October 7 with Abbas Kamel, who was then heading the Egyptian General Intelligence Service.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked military bases and settlements adjacent to the Gaza Strip, resulting in the death and capture of Israelis, in response to what the movement described as "the occupation's daily crimes against the Palestinian people and their sanctities, most notably the Al-Aqsa Mosque."
Netanyahu's responsibility for part of the security, military, and intelligence failure on October 7, 2023, is one of the most prominent files of political controversy between the Jewish opposition bloc and Netanyahu's camp, ahead of the general elections scheduled for October 27.
Netanyahu claimed that the then-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar held "numerous conversations on the eve of October 7 with the then-Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate Aharon Haliva, during which they discussed all the indicators pointing to what was happening."
Netanyahu went on to say: "Despite this, Ronen Bar decided not to contact the Prime Minister and brief him, not to warn the standby teams and IDF forces in the field, and not to evacuate the 'Nova' music festival in the Re'im settlement near Gaza, contenting himself with sending only a small 'Tekuma' team, which proves that he knew of a real danger."
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Abbas Kamel called Netanyahu in early October 2023, warning him of an imminent attack from the Gaza Strip.
On September 8 of this year, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Netanyahu received a warning before October 7, 2023, from UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, during a phone call, that Hamas was planning an attack.
However, on September 10, the Emirati newspaper The National quoted an unnamed official source as saying that "the UAE discusses security issues with other countries through the relevant authorities, and does not discuss them at the leaders' level."
Following the Haaretz report, Netanyahu's office described what the newspaper published as "absolute lies," stating that the Prime Minister did not speak with the UAE President during that period and did not receive any warnings.
Since October 8, 2023, Israel has been waging a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, backed by the US, resulting in the killing of more than 74,000 Palestinians and the injury of over 175,000, most of them children and women.
