Bennett Reveals Details of Canceled Sinwar Assassination Plot

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett disclosed details on Wednesday regarding a thwarted assassination attempt on Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar during his premiership. Speaking at a farmers' conference, Bennett stated that the option to eliminate Sinwar was not presented to him upon taking office and that he discovered it incidentally during a presentation at the Southern Command.

Bennett recounted that he was unaware of the possibility until it appeared on a slide during a briefing. "I entered my position, nobody presented me with this option," he said. "There, they gave me a presentation at the Southern Command. On slide number, I don't know how many, at some point they say: 'And there is an option to eliminate Sinwar.' I said: 'What? My ears...'".

Following this discovery, Bennett instructed his staff to begin working on the operation, but encountered significant opposition from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the security establishment. "There was very big opposition at this stage from the IDF and the security systems," he explained. "They said: 'What do you want? Everything is quiet. Why are you going to ignite a war now? Who needs this?'".

Bennett attempted to advance the plan again at the start of the wave of terror in the spring of 2022. However, security officials reportedly argued there was no connection between the attacks and Hamas, claiming the perpetrator had not even heard of Sinwar's speeches. Despite this, Bennett asserted that the decision was eventually made to proceed with the assassination in the summer of 2022. The plan was ultimately shelved due to the collapse of the government in June 2022. "We set it for the summer of 2022," Bennett said. "In June the government fell."