Ex-Israel Coach Slams Netanyahu Over October 7 Failures

Former Israeli national team coach Shlomo Sharaf sharply criticized Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday, ahead of the third anniversary of the October 7th massacre. Sharaf, whose granddaughter May Na'im was killed near Kibbutz Be'eri, stated in an interview on 103FM that Netanyahu bears responsibility for the disaster and that the Prime Minister's explanations are lies. "To come and say 'They didn't wake me up' and all these lies? It's as clear as day that he received warnings and he knew, it took him two and a half hours to do something," Sharaf said. He asserted that Netanyahu "finished his public role in the State of Israel" and "if he had a shred of honor, he would have handed in his keys and gone home." Sharaf continued, "The blood of our children is on his hands, his hands are stained with the blood of the children murdered there, he could have prevented it if he were a serious Prime Minister." He questioned how the political system would have reacted if another prime minister, such as Naftali Bennett or Yair Lapid, had been in office during the massacre, suggesting the opposition would have demanded their resignation. "I am surprised by one thing, why didn't they get up, leave and resign? There couldn't be a worse massacre than this," he added. Sharaf also criticized the government's attempt to reframe the events, stating, "They are trying to postpone it, and try to change the name, to call it 'The War of Return.' What return was there here? Children, pregnant women were murdered." Sharaf concluded by calling for a state commission of inquiry into the failures that led to October 7th, arguing that a proper country would have already established one to prevent future tragedies. "In a proper country, they would have already held an inquiry commission, so that our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren would not experience such a thing again, but here they are trying to suppress it, trying not to talk about it. It won't help, in the end, they will have to establish a state commission of inquiry," he stated.