Former Netanyahu Chief of Staff Yoav Horovitz Breaks Silence on October 7 Failures
Yoav Horovitz, former chief of staff to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, recently gave a rare and candid testimony about the catastrophic events surrounding the October 7 attacks. Horovitz, a respected former commando and close confidant of Netanyahu, described the deep personal and national trauma he experienced, including sleepless nights worrying about soldiers on the front lines. His account, shared through journalist Yaron Avraham on Channel 12, paints a grim picture of political and security failures in Netanyahu's inner circle.
Despite his credibility and proximity to Netanyahu, Horovitz’s delayed public disclosure raises questions about why he and others close to the prime minister did not raise alarms earlier. The article highlights a pattern of former allies and senior officials, such as Avigdor Lieberman, Ayelet Shaked, Naftali Bennett, Avichai Mandelblit, and Roni Alsheikh, who have since distanced themselves from Netanyahu after initially supporting him. Horovitz attributes his change of heart to the shock of October 7 and the political evasions that followed.
The piece criticizes the silence maintained by Netanyahu’s team during the crisis and the years after, suggesting that this silence contributed to a cover-up or at least a failure to confront the severity of the situation in real time. It questions the moral responsibility of those who enabled Netanyahu’s leadership, which the article claims has severely damaged Israeli democracy. Horovitz’s testimony is seen as both disturbing and validating of long-held suspicions about Netanyahu’s governance, but the timing of his revelations prompts the question: why speak out only now?
Horovitz is currently associated with Gadi Eizenkot’s campaign, the leading candidate for the next prime minister, though the article stresses that the timing of his testimony is more significant than his current political role. The broader implication is a call for accountability from all who were complicit in allowing Netanyahu’s leadership to persist unchecked, leading to the current political and security crisis in Israel.
