In Israel, former IDF chief Halutz accuses Netanyahu of concealing warnings
In Israel, former Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces Dan Halutz said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allegedly knew more before the October 7 attack than he disclosed and concealed information. In Halutz’s view, the head of government bears ultimate responsibility for the failure.
Halutz said this in an interview with radio station 103FM, The Jerusalem Post reports. He commented on a Haaretz publication stating that Netanyahu allegedly received a clear warning several days before the attack during a conversation with United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed.
The warning version
Halutz said that he considers such a conversation likely. According to him, there are a number of circumstances which, in his opinion, indicate that the prime minister had more information than he passed on to those who later had to deal with the problems. The former head of the General Staff also suggested that Netanyahu might not have expected events to develop on such a large scale.
At the same time, Halutz stressed that he is only assuming the prime minister’s possible motives. He mentioned financial flows between Qatar and Hamas, as well as possible concerns that intelligence agencies’ actions could have led to an escalation in the region.
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Responsibility for decisions
Commenting on reports that Hamas had also conveyed warnings before the conversation with the UAE president, and that no decisions were made after a security meeting convened by Netanyahu, Halutz placed responsibility on the prime minister. He stated that the outcome of a meeting convened by the head of government is the responsibility of the head of government himself, not of other participants.
According to Halutz, Netanyahu should have summarized the discussion if he considered it necessary. The former head of the General Staff also claimed that many participants in meetings with the prime minister would say that he often does not formulate final conclusions, leaving issues without clear decisions.
Halutz acknowledged that the failure was extensive and involved many people. At the same time, he urged voters not to support Netanyahu in elections and expressed the view that Israel’s opposition has a high chance of winning, but must conduct a more active campaign.
