Israelis Urged to Confront Truth About Pre-War Warnings

The article argues that Israeli society is failing to confront the reality of extensive intelligence warnings received by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prior to the October 7th Hamas attacks. It criticizes a societal tendency to accept a narrative where external forces are solely responsible for Israel's misfortunes, absolving leadership of accountability. The author points to the Flydubai incident as another example of alleged leadership evasion of responsibility, characterized by mutual blame rather than thorough investigation.

The piece asserts that this pattern of deflection and spin is applied across all security fronts, including Iran, Lebanon, and Gaza. It suggests that the public is repeatedly fed the same story, forgetting past leadership and celebrating the very leader who is portrayed as a savior from crises he allegedly ignited. The author questions how Netanyahu could have slept with a "clear conscience" given the documented warnings, including four unusual letters to the Prime Minister, Hamas's Jericho Wall plan, and urgent alerts in September.

The article highlights that despite these warnings, which were reported by international and Israeli media, including The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, "Israel Hayom," and "Haaretz," no significant action was taken. Civilian policy and financial transfers continued as usual, leaving the system "dormant."

Furthermore, the author suggests that Netanyahu's extensive overseas travel and efforts to obtain denials from foreign leaders indicate an attempt to escape accountability for the failures. The piece concludes by calling for an independent state commission of inquiry to uncover the facts, emphasizing that this is a fundamental civil and moral right for Israelis to understand why the failures occurred. The author states that a society that wishes to live cannot fear the truth and that it is time for a change in leadership.