Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing intense criticism after the newspaper Haaretz published an investigation based on materials from an upcoming book. The report claims that Netanyahu was informed of a planned attack days before October 7, 2023. According to the publication, then-Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was later killed by Israeli forces, told a mediator from the Palestinian Fatah that a “horrific operation” was being prepared, which he likened to an “earthquake.”
The investigation states that this information was later passed to Benjamin Netanyahu by an advisor to the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed, amid normalization talks between the two countries. The authors claim the Israeli Prime Minister did not pass this warning on to security services. The office of Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed these claims as “a complete lie” and denied that any such information was exchanged with an UAE representative in late September 2023.
Opposition reaction and political consequences
On Tuesday, September 8, members of the Israeli opposition called for Benjamin Netanyahu to resign, intensifying criticism of his performance ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for October 27. The Prime Minister’s main rival, former Chief of the General Staff Gadi Eisenkot, stated on X that Benjamin Netanyahu is “unfit” to lead the country. He accused the Prime Minister of ignoring dozens of warnings about the October 7 attack and called his excuses “pathetic.”
In turn, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stated that Benjamin Netanyahu bears “personal and direct responsibility” and “cannot continue to hold his position for another minute.”
In recent weeks, Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that his staff woke him up late on the morning of October 7, 2023. During the unprecedented attack, which remains one of the greatest traumas in the history of Israel, 1,221 people were killed, according to AFP tallies based on official Israeli data.
In response, Israel launched a military operation that has devastated the Gaza Strip. According to the Hamas-run health ministry in the enclave, the death toll stands at 73,658 people. The UN considers these figures reliable.
Source: Le Monde
