Netanyahu's Office Releases Timeline of October 7th Morning Actions

In response to recent criticism and reports alleging delays in communication on the morning of the October 7th attack, the Prime Minister's Office released a detailed timeline of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's actions. The office stated the timeline aims to refute "misleading publications" regarding the political leadership's conduct during the initial hours of the surprise assault.

According to the timeline provided by the Prime Minister's Office, Netanyahu was first alerted to the attack from Gaza at 6:29 AM by his military secretary. He reportedly spoke again with the military secretary at 6:44 AM, inquiring about intelligence failures and asking to examine the need for extensive reserve mobilization and the possibility of targeted assassinations of Hamas leadership.

Netanyahu departed his residence for the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv at 7:30 AM, after his security detail was prepared. En route, he spoke with then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who updated him on the unclear situation and Netanyahu instructed that a situation assessment be convened at the Kirya's underground bunker. He arrived at the Kirya around 8:00 AM or 8:22 AM, according to Shin Bet records.

From 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM, Netanyahu received intelligence updates and field reports. Concurrently, at 8:40 AM, the Defense Minister convened with then-IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar to formulate a situation assessment for Netanyahu's discussion. The Prime Minister's Office stated that Netanyahu's military secretary only received the Shin Bet's situation assessment document, prepared earlier that morning at 5:15 AM, at 9:47 AM.

At 9:55 AM, Netanyahu chaired a broad security discussion in the bunker with the Defense Minister, IDF Chief of Staff, Mossad chief, Shin Bet head, National Security Advisor, and head of the Operations Directorate. The Prime Minister's Office claims that during this meeting, Netanyahu ordered a complete sealing of the border to prevent hostage movement and further infiltrator entry, rejected the IDF's recommendation for partial reserve mobilization in favor of full mobilization, and ordered a war directive and increased preparedness for escalation on the northern border. Following this meeting, Netanyahu held a smaller security consultation with the Defense Minister and IDF Chief of Staff.