Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deleted a tweet on Sunday morning that he wrote on Saturday night attacking the defense, and especially intelligence, forces.
הבוקר הזה במיוחד אני מבקש לגבות ולחזק את כל גורמי הביטחון וחיילי צה”ל – כולל הרמטכ״ל, ראש אמ”ן וראש השב”כ. כשאנחנו נמצאים במלחמה, מנהיגות צריכה לגלות אחריות, להחליט לעשות את הדברים הנכונים ולחזק את הכוחות באופן שהם יוכלו לממש את שאנחנו דורשים מהם. כל פעולה או אמירה אחרת – פוגעות…
— בני גנץ – Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) October 29, 2023
The tweet was posted after Netanyahu refused to explicitly admit that he bears some responsibility for October 7 when pressed during a press conference. At the conference, the prime minister only said that everyone would have to give the public answers, including him.
Later, he tweeted in a post that put the blame on the defense and intelligence officials.
“At no point, was a warning given to Prime Minister Netanyahu on Hamas’s intention to start a war,” he wrote. “On the contrary, all the defense officials, including the heads of the Intelligence Directorate and the Shin Bet, assessed that Hamas was deterred. This was the assessment submitted time after time to the prime minister and the cabinet by all the entities in the defense and the intelligence community right up until the war broke out.”
Meanwhile, Netanyahu is one of the last defense and political leaders to refuse to take responsibility for the attack. Multiple ministers and MKs in the coalition have taken responsibility, including Education Minister Yoav Kisch and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, as have many leaders in the defense system.
Even people who weren’t in the government when the attack happened have taken responsibility with former prime minister Naftali Bennett and former defense minister Benny Gantz both saying that they bore responsibility for the attack.
Netanyahu’s post was met with criticism
Netanyahu’s post was met with heavy criticism from throughout the Knesset with some urging Netanyahu to retract his statement while others reiterated their support for the defense system.
“When at war, leadership needs to behave responsibly, do all the right things and strengthen the forces in such a way that they can do what we need them to do,” said Gantz. “Any other action or statement harms the abilities of the people and its forces. The prime minister must retract his statement from last night and stop dealing with the issue.”
He ended by telling the defense forces that he loves, appreciates, and supports them.
Smotrich also spoke out against Netanyahu’s statement saying that weakening the IDF’s commanders was wrong. He added that now was the time to be responsible and support and strengthen one another even when they’re wrong.
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