Leaders of the Israeli opposition criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, following the publication of a journalistic investigation claiming that he had been informed of an attack being planned by Hamas a few days before October 7, 2023, but failed to pass on that information.
According to an investigation published by the newspaper Haaretz and based on a forthcoming book, the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed, had contacted Netanyahu during the last week of September 2023 to inform him that the armed Palestinian organization was preparing a major operation.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
According to Haaretz, the Israeli leader did not inform the heads of the security services of this warning.
Netanyahu’s office called it an “utter lie,” denying even that there had been any communication with the UAE president in late September 2023.
SEE ALSO: Chaos at British airports; flights grounded due to air traffic control malfunction
The publication of this investigation has sparked an avalanche of criticism from key opposition figures, who, as the October 27 parliamentary elections approach, are escalating their aggressive rhetoric regarding the Prime Minister’s handling of the crisis.
“Netanyahu received dozens of warnings about October 7 and ignored them all. He is not capable” of governing, his main rival, former Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Gadi Eizenkot, stated via X.
He accused Netanyahu of resorting to “pathetic” excuses to shirk responsibility. The Prime Minister has stated several times in recent weeks that his staff was late in waking him up on the morning of October 7, 2023.
Netanyahu “bears personal and direct responsibility,” said former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. “He cannot continue to perform his duties for even one more minute,” he wrote in a post on X.
The Haaretz article notes that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was subsequently killed by Israel, had told a mediator from the Palestinian Fatah movement that he was preparing “a terrifying operation” that would cause an “earthquake.”
According to the same source, the information subsequently reached Mohammed bin Zayed via one of his advisers, who then relayed it to Netanyahu as part of the normalization of relations between the two countries.
During the unprecedented attacks of October 7—which remain among the most traumatic in Israel’s history—1,221 people were killed, according to a report by Agence France-Presse based on official Israeli figures.
The Israeli retaliatory offensive devastated the Gaza Strip and resulted in the deaths of 73,658 people, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.
Source: KYPE
