Ben-Gvir Blames Netanyahu for October 7 Failures, Cites Misinformation

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stated on Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bears responsibility for the October 7th Hamas attacks, but asserted that Netanyahu was misled by top intelligence officials. "Netanyahu certainly has responsibility, but the head of military intelligence and Ronen Bar misled him," Ben-Gvir said in an interview with Kan News.

Ben-Gvir also expressed personal criticism of Netanyahu, explaining his affiliation with the Otzma Yehudit party rather than Likud. He claimed that prior to October 7th, he proposed a different approach to Gaza but was dismissed by senior officials, including Netanyahu, who allegedly told him that "professionals" indicated no threat from Gaza, just a week before the attack.

Addressing reports of millions of dollars transferred to Gaza, Ben-Gvir stated he does not defend the decision and would have strongly opposed it if he were in the security cabinet at the time. He asserted the decision was not made in the security cabinet and that his past warnings were ignored, claiming he was proven right.

Ben-Gvir announced his intention to seek the position of Defense Minister in the next government, promising a shift towards a "decisive" strategy for Israel, not one of "containment." These remarks follow recent reports, including from the Wall Street Journal and Haaretz, alleging that Netanyahu received multiple warnings about an impending attack from Egyptian intelligence and the UAE president, respectively. Netanyahu's office has denied these reports.