Netanyahu Responds to Former Shin Bet Chief's Lawsuit, Questions His Actions on Oct. 7
Translated & summarized from Srugim by baba
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to a defamation lawsuit by former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, questioning why Bar claims he lacked Netanyahu's phone number on October 7. Netanyahu stated Bar had direct and indirect means to contact him, including a "red phone" and his security detail. He suggested better communication could have saved lives, a point central to their dispute over responsibility for the Hamas attack.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Prime Minister Netanyahu questioned former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar's claim of not having his phone number on October 7.
- Netanyahu stated Bar had a direct "red phone" line and could have used his security detail to contact him.
- The Prime Minister suggested that timely communication could have saved lives during the Hamas attack.
- Bar's defamation lawsuit against Netanyahu alleges false accusations aimed at deflecting responsibility for the October 7 failures.
- Netanyahu's response presents his version of events regarding communication on the night of the attack.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded Wednesday for the first time to a defamation lawsuit filed against him by former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar. Netanyahu sharply attacked Bar's claim that he did not have the Prime Minister's phone number on the night of October 7. Netanyahu asserted that Bar had multiple ways to contact him immediately and reiterated the question of why direct warning was not conveyed to him in the hours preceding the Hamas attack.
"Ronen Bar, who saw the warning signs on the night of October 7 and did not call me, says today that he did not have my phone number," the Prime Minister wrote in his response. He then directly addressed Bar with a sharp question: "Ronen, are you serious?"
Netanyahu rejected the assertion that Bar had no way to contact him, pointing to the direct communication channel available to heads of the security establishment. "You had my red phone number, and you could have immediately called me as all heads of the security establishment do," Netanyahu wrote. He added that Bar's own security detail, who are with the Prime Minister 24/7, could have reached him within minutes.
The Prime Minister concluded his response by accusing the former Shin Bet chief, linking the failure to communicate with him to the potential to save lives during the October 7 attack. "How many lives could we have saved if you had only called on time," Netanyahu wrote. The response comes amid the defamation lawsuit filed by Bar against Netanyahu, in which the former Shin Bet chief alleges that Netanyahu published false accusations about his conduct before and during the October 7 attack as part of an effort to deflect responsibility for the failures.
Netanyahu's response focuses on the central dispute: whether the Shin Bet chief could have contacted the Prime Minister on the night of the attack and why he did not. However, the article notes that Netanyahu's claims represent his version of events, and the questions regarding what intelligence Bar possessed, how it was conveyed, and whether a phone call could have altered the outcome remain unresolved based solely on this response.
