2023-10-29 18:30:59
“Never, under any circumstances, has the Prime Minister been alerted to the warlike intentions of Hamas.” This short sentence published on the Twitter account of Benyamin Netanyahu (henceforth X) excited the Israeli political scene this Sunday, October 29.
The Israeli Prime Minister criticized security officials for having underestimated the risks of a major Hamas attack. “All security officials, including the head of military intelligence and the head of internal security, believed that Hamas was afraid to act and was seeking an arrangement. This is the assessment that was submitted several times to the prime minister and to the cabinet by all security officials and the intelligence community. Until the moment the war broke out”, continued the head of government, in statements made following a press conference then relayed on his Twitter account .
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These comments were quickly seen as a way of personally exonerating themselves from the Hamas terrorist attack. Even Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s emergency government and former chief of staff, disavowed his prime minister, calling on him to “stop dealing with this issue” and “to go back on his statement.”
That’s ultimately what Netanyahu did first thing, deleting his tweet and replacing it with a message of apology. “I was wrong. What I said after the press conference should not have been said and I apologize for that. I fully support all security officials. I support the chief of staff, the commanders, and the soldiers of the IDF (Israeli Army) who are on the front lines and who are fighting for our home. Together we will win”, he wrote on Twitter.
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This about-face did not fail to be commented on in Israel. “The attempt to avoid responsibility and place the blame on the security apparatus weakens the IDF as it fights against Israel’s enemies,” responded Yaïr Lapid, leader of the opposition, adding that he had -even received notes from Israeli intelligence on Hamas’s intentions as early as last September.
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Even Hamas took the opportunity to react, describing an episode which “stirs up internal struggles and once again betrays the extent of attrition and confusion within their government”, said Ezzat Al-Risheq, member of the office. policy of Hamas, in a press release published by the terrorist movement.
These statements should not improve the popularity of “Bibi” within his country itself, while many political analysts in Israel believe that the rest of his political career is strongly compromised for not having been able to ensure protection of its population, one of its electoral slogans.
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