Warnings of October 7th Shake Israel.. Opposition Leaders Call for Ousting Netanyahu

The Wall Street Journal reported that Abbas Kamel, the former head of Egyptian General Intelligence, contacted Netanyahu in early October 2023, warning him of an imminent attack from the Gaza Strip.

In response, Netanyahu said in a statement from his office earlier on Monday: "During the months leading up to October 7, Prime Minister Netanyahu did not meet or speak with Abbas Kamel, who was then heading the Egyptian General Intelligence Service, nor did any Israeli intelligence official convey an Egyptian warning to the Prime Minister."

He added: "The Prime Minister has instructed to file a libel suit over this matter as well."

He continued: "It is important to clarify: Prime Minister Netanyahu never meets or speaks with the head of a foreign country's intelligence service without his Israeli counterparts."

On October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked military bases and settlements along the Gaza Strip, resulting in the killing and capture of Israelis, in response to what the movement described as 'daily crimes of the occupation against the Palestinian people and their sanctities, especially 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, 2023.

In response to Netanyahu's office statement, Gadi Eizenkot, leader of the Yesh Atid party and former Chief of Staff, said on the X platform that "Netanyahu has lost his sanity. Every minute he spends in office is a danger to Israeli citizens and Israeli society."

He added: "The Prime Minister of failure is acting like a possessed person, trying to lie and hide the way he led us to one of the worst disasters in Israel's history."

Regarding Netanyahu's accusation of the former Shabak head for the failure, Eizenkot continued: "Netanyahu does not bat an eyelid when it comes to spreading toxic lies and dangerous conspiracy theories about treason, in a desperate attempt to disclaim responsibility for it, and to incite against the families of the abductees and survivors of captivity."

Eizenkot asserted that Netanyahu "by doing so, is tearing Israel apart from within, knowingly and deliberately."

He emphasized that Netanyahu's office "received warnings and recommendations to take proactive measures, which it ignored in the months and weeks leading up to the events, as well as intelligence information on that very night."

He concluded by saying: "He is afraid, he is a liar, and above all, he is a danger to the State of Israel. There is no limit he is not willing to cross in order to save himself," adding: "Netanyahu is fighting the battle of his life, and he will lose it."

For his part, former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said on the X platform, in response to Netanyahu: "As someone who was there, and worked as head of the Military Intelligence Division (Aman), Chief of Staff, and Defense Minister, there cannot be a rational Prime Minister who does not brief those in such positions on a warning he receives in advance from the head of a state, such as the President of the UAE (Mohammed bin Zayed), or the head of Egyptian Intelligence."

However, Ya'alon continued: "But in our case, it actually happened."

He said that Netanyahu had previously made serious decisions without briefing the relevant parties.

He called for ousting Netanyahu during the upcoming elections on October 27, 2023, saying: "We must oust this government that is characterized by lies, abandonment, and betrayal, in order to save the country from destruction."

For his part, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid downplayed Netanyahu's threat to sue anyone who spreads information about his prior knowledge of the October 7 attack.

Lapid wrote on the X platform: "For those affected by Netanyahu's statement that he will'sue for libel' anyone who claims he ignored warnings before October 7, here is a quick update."

He continued: "In 2019, Netanyahu ostentatiously announced that he would sue me for a million shekels for posts I published about his responsibility in the submarine affair. I told him: 'Do it, I waive my immunity, and we meet in court, and I'm still waiting until now'."

On September 8, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Netanyahu received a warning from UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, during a phone call, that Hamas was planning an attack, before October 7, 2023.

However, on September 10, the UAE newspaper The National quoted an unnamed official source as saying that "the UAE discusses security issues with other countries through the relevant authorities, and not at the leaders' level."

Following the Haaretz report, Netanyahu's office described what the newspaper published as "absolute lies," saying that the Prime Minister did not speak with the UAE President during that period and did not receive any warning.

On September 10, the newspaper pledged to reveal the truth in court, rejecting three demands made by Netanyahu to prevent it from being sued, namely deleting the report, issuing an apology, and paying a financial settlement of one million shekels, or about $331,000.

Israeli military, intelligence, and political officials described the October 7 attack as an unprecedented security and military failure in Israel's history.

While officials admitted to bearing some responsibility for this failure, Netanyahu refused to take any responsibility for it, blaming the army.

Netanyahu has been heading the current government since late 2022, which is described as the most right-wing in Israel's history, while he has been wanted since 2024 to appear before the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes in Gaza.

Since October 8, 2023, Israel, with American support, has been waging a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, resulting in the killing of more than 74,000 Palestinians and injuring over 175,000, most of them children and women.

Israel was established in 1948 on lands occupied by armed Zionist gangs that committed massacres and displaced at least 750,000 Palestinians, before Tel Aviv occupied the rest of the Palestinian territories and refused to withdraw from them.