Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu said Monday that senior Israeli security officials detected signs that Hamas could be preparing an attack in the hours before the Oct. 7 massacre but deliberately chose not to wake him, fearing that the military response he would order could spark an escalation.
According to Netanyahu, several warning indicators emerged ahead of the attack pointing to unusual Hamas activity. He identified then-IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, then-Shin Bet director Ronen Bar and then-Military Intelligence chief Aharon Haliva as among the senior officials who were aware of the information.
Despite those indications, Netanyahu said he was neither awakened nor briefed about the developing situation. He said the reasoning behind that decision later became apparent in a protocol containing statements by Bar that was submitted to Israel’s High Court of Justice during a dispute between Netanyahu and the Shin Bet chief.
Netanyahu cited statements attributed to Bar outlining the security establishment’s approach at the time: “First of all, to be in covert medium readiness so as not to create a miscalculation,” followed later by: “Readiness to respond, for now to avoid broad activity in order to avoid miscalculation.”
Netanyahu said the thinking reflected the security establishment’s longstanding belief that Hamas had been deterred and was therefore unlikely to launch a major assault against Israel.
The prime minister maintained that the security chiefs understood exactly how he would have reacted had they awakened him and informed him of the warning signs.
“They knew exactly what I would do. They knew I would activate the air force there and I would wake up all of the IDF and I wouldn’t let anyone approach the fences, we would kill them immediately.”
Netanyahu argued that senior officials feared such an aggressive response could itself lead to an exchange of fire or provoke an attack by Hamas, and therefore opted against taking broader military action or alerting him.
“If they had woken me, everything would have looked different. And that’s the story of October 7,” Netanyahu concluded.
