October 7 Victims' Families Release 'File 7/10' Blaming Long-Term Policy

Families of victims from the October 7th Hamas attacks held a press conference in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, protesting what they described as the politicization of the failures leading to the massacre. They unveiled a document titled "File 7/10," which they claim details the strategic failures against Hamas over the past 15 years, attributing the events of October 7th to a long-standing policy.

Speakers at the conference, including Shelly Meshel-Yogev, whose daughter was killed at the Nova music festival, and Natalia Kasroti, mother of a victim killed at the Mefalsim junction, shared personal stories and presented evidence. Meshel-Yogev criticized the government's approach, stating, "The mistaken concept brought Libby to be buried in the ground." Kasroti played a recording of her son's final moments, describing his death and expressing disillusionment with the state's handling of the situation.

Einav Tsengauker, presenting "File 7/10," asserted that a campaign of evasion of responsibility has been ongoing since the attack, involving lies and division. She emphasized that the document outlines decisions and policies by successive governments that paved the way for the massacre, directly addressing Prime Minister Netanyahu and stating, "The time has come" for accountability.

Gil Dickmann, cousin of a kidnapped and murdered victim, criticized Netanyahu for not being woken up on October 7th, stating that "File 7/10" contains "a thousand alarm clocks." He accused Netanyahu's circle of attempting to downplay the decade-and-a-half-long failure and vowed that the families would not allow the events to be buried or misrepresented.

Naomi Or Ofek, a 16-year-old relative of victims, stated that October 7th was a natural outcome of a trajectory that has persisted since her birth, leading to a generation that has grown up under this policy. She demanded that those in decision-making positions be worthy individuals, stating her generation deserves better.

The families claim that Netanyahu's inner circle has been actively working to shift blame away from him since the immediate aftermath of the massacre, attributing responsibility to security officials, the High Court, and protesters. They maintain that the massacre was not a single failure but the result of a long-term policy that enabled Hamas's deadly attack.