How the ‘Inside Betrayal’ Conspiracy Became a Political Weapon

This Ynet daily news podcast episode examines the “inside betrayal” theory that spread after the October 7 attack, arguing that it has been turned into a political tool. According to Roy Shushan, head of the public department at Fake Reporter, the core claim is that the courts, security services, and protest leaders allegedly coordinated with Hamas to sacrifice thousands of Israelis in order to topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Shushan said Likud lawmaker Tally Gotliv amplified many false claims tied to that narrative, and that one of them may lead to criminal charges. He said she exposed the identity of a Shin Bet officer and his connection to Shikma Bressler. “The indictment has already been filed against her, and now there is a debate over immunity,” he said.

He added that once Gotliv posted the relevant tweet, it spread widely and was embraced by the “poison machine,” which then promoted the conspiracy further. In his view, the story is only one layer of a broader effort to shift blame for the failure away from the political leadership and onto anyone who opposes it, including the army, the Shin Bet and the justice system.

The podcast says new versions of the same false narrative kept appearing, including claims that on October 7 Military Advocate General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi sent 100 lawyers to stop soldiers from fighting. Shushan called that fabrication a distortion of Tomer-Yerushalmi’s remarks. He said the fake news and rumors began within minutes of the massacre, and that “inside betrayal” quickly became a trend on X because many people struggled to accept what had happened and sought explanations for the failure.