Israel PM Netanyahu says security officials deliberately kept him from waking on Oct 7

JERUSALEM, Sept 2 — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused security officials of deliberately preventing him from being woken on the morning of Hamas's October 7 attacks, following his wife's claim that an opposition figure had knowledge of the assault in advance. This comes as Netanyahu, facing a close election, has been criticized over the security failures leading to the October 7, 2023 incident.

The prime minister has previously alleged that security officials kept him asleep, stating that he would have activated the entire army upon waking, but recently suggested that the decision was intentionally withheld. "Why didn't they wake me? Because they knew that I, as prime minister of Israel, would immediately have ordered to put the entire army on alert, to wake up all the towns (on the Gaza border)...

It’s so obvious that all of this could have been done. This has been hidden from the public," Netanyahu stated during an Instagram live interview. Netanyahu's claims align with those he made in a recent podcast interview, attributing the lack of action to the military's top brass and Ronen Bar, head of the Shin Bet security service that day.

Prime Minister Netanyahu's wife, Sara, in a separate television interview, alleged that opposition figure Yair Golan knew of the Hamas attack plan before it occurred. This statement has sparked outrage among the opposition and prompted a lawsuit threat from Golan, a former deputy military chief of staff and leader of Israel’s centre-left Democrats party.

Golan, who rushed to southern Israel on October 7 to rescue people from the Nova music festival attack, where at least 370 were killed, accused Sara Netanyahu of spreading a false conspiracy, demanding an apology and compensation. Golan's party also condemned her remarks, accusing her of rewriting history and sowing discord. A poll conducted in August found that 40% of Israelis and 63% of those supporting the current right-wing coalition believe internal treason was responsible for the October 7 attack, which resulted in 1,221 deaths and 251 hostages, 44 of whom have since died.

Israel has retaliated with a Gaza offensive that has caused over 73,462 deaths, according to the Palestinian health ministry.