Netanyahu claims defense officials chose not to wake him on Oct 7, says decision was ‘failure, not betrayal’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday evening that there was no betrayal by those who did not involve him earlier on the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, but “a failure.” 

In a video posted on social media Tuesday evening, in apparent response to backlash regarding his wife Sara Netanyahu's interview on Channel 14, Netanyahu clarified that “there was no betrayal” on Oct. 7. 

“I've been asked, and I've said it several times. ‘Do you think there was betrayal?’ I said, ‘No, I don't think there was betrayal.’ I think there was a failure,” Netanyahu says in the video. 

“There was a major failure, and it is reflected in what happened the night and morning before the attack,” Netanyahu continued, “that there were all the signs and they decided, due to a ‘miscalculation,’ not to upset Hamas, not to wake me up and not to attack in advance – it was a failure, but not betrayal. It happened at terrible prices, but my wife didn't say there was betrayal either.” 

Following the release of the video, Democrats chairman Yair Golan posted a response to social media, saying the move is an attempt by the prime minister to engage in “damage control.” 

“You ‘don't think,’ Bibi? You know full well there was no betrayal,” Golan wrote on 𝕏. “On October 7th, we went out to save lives while you froze. A true leader doesn't stammer in the face of blood libels; he apologizes to the fighters and condemns the lies that came out of his house.” 

“This statement by Netanyahu is not an apology, but an attempt at damage control,” Golan added. 

In a previous video, which Netanyahu posted to his own social media accounts, the prime minister accused the heads of the security agencies of deliberately not waking him, fearing a “miscalculation” if he recommended a strong response. Netanyahu said that the security leaders did not believe Hamas was actually attacking in the early hours of the morning. 

Saying there were multiple signs of the attack, Netanyahu accused then-IDF Chief Herzi Halevi; then Shin Bet head Ronen Bar; and former head of the AMAN military intelligence directorate, Aharon Haliva; of knowing that he should have been awakened immediately. 

“The question is ‘Why?’” Netanyahu asked. “I want to tell you why they didn’t wake me up.” 

“They didn’t believe that Hamas would attack,” Netanyahu said. 

“They were concerned that if they woke up the prime minister, the ‘crazy one,’ me, they knew exactly what I would do,” he claimed. “They knew that I would activate the air force, and I would call up the army, and I wouldn’t allow anyone to approach the border, to kill them immediately. So they said, ‘This will lead to an attack or an exchange of fire with Hamas, and that has to be prevented.’” 

“If they would have awakened me, everything would have looked different,” Netanyahu said in the video released Sunday.  

Sara Netanyahu said in an interview released Monday that the Democrats Party Chairman Yair Golan “was already there early in the morning, already dressed and prepared,” implying Golan somehow had advance knowledge of the attacks. 

“In general, who is the prime minister who needs to know that a war is breaking out? Why inform him?” she asked sarcastically. 

“I don’t want to talk. I don’t know. Let there be a real investigative committee,” Sara stated.

The coalition government refused to call a state commission of inquiry into the disaster, as is the norm for such governmental failures. Opposition politicians have said that if they achieve victory in the coming elections, they will appoint a state inquiry into the massacres.

In response to Sara Netanyahu's statements, Golan sent a warning letter before taking legal action for publishing slander, saying that she “echoed conspiracy theories and defamatory and false statements, which amount to slander in the most serious sense.” 

The letter said that Sara Netanyahu was required to publish a public and unequivocal apology within 24 hours, and to coordinate the payment of financial compensation that would be transferred in full as a donation to the survivors of the Nova rave party, or else face legal action, including a suit for the sum of no less than NIS 2.5 million ($826,000). 

According to Channel 12 News, a Likud source said the purpose of the release of the second video was to distance Netanyahu from any responsibility for the Oct. 7 massacre ahead of the elections. 

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also accused Netanyahu of “spreading a sick, false, and dangerous conspiracy against the IDF and Shin Bet commanders, and against Yair Golan.” 

Bennett pointed out that Netanyahu agreed to the funding of Hamas via Qatari money transfers to Gaza, which allowed the group to prepare for the October 7, 2023 attacks. He also noted that Netanyahu agreed to cancel the Flag March in 2021, after Hamas threatened to attack, only for the terror organization to launch rockets at Israel despite the “capitulation.” 

“Netanyahu failed because of a conception that Hamas is an asset and Qatar is a partner,” Bennett wrote. 

Political analysts expect blame for the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre to be a significant issue in election campaigns ahead of the Oct. 27, 2026, vote.