Netanyahu said Shin Bet didn’t warn him about Hamas’s plans to invade on October 7th

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Following the release of Shin Bet’s probe into Hamas’s October 7th attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the agency for failing to inform him of Hamas’s plans to attack Israel.

In a statement, Netanyahu said, “The intelligence picture was misinterpreted, leading to a flawed perception.”

“In the ongoing intelligence assessments, including just days before the massacre, the Shin Bet’s central thesis was that Hamas aimed to maintain calm and that no escalation was expected,” the statement continued.

The prime minister’s statement responded to Shin Bet’s probe, which suggested that government policies were partly to blame for Hamas’s decision to carry out their attack plans.

Shin Bet stated that government policies regarding the Temple Mount, the treatment of Palestinian prisoners, and the judicial overhaul were likely contributing factors to Hamas’s decision to attack Israel.

Netanyahu continued in his statement, “Bar firmly stated that Hamas aimed to avoid a confrontation with Israel. He even believed there was potential for long-term stability in Gaza if Israel offered a positive economic outlook,” the statement said.

“Most alarming of all, the Shin Bet and its director failed to address, even at the most basic level, the ‘Walls of Jericho’ plan to destroy Israel,” Netanyahu’s statement added.

“This was neither included in the ongoing intelligence assessments nor considered on the night of October 7, despite the fact that the Shin Bet had been aware of the plan since 2018,” the statement continued.

“Furthermore, the Shin Bet director deemed it unnecessary to wake the prime minister on the night of the attack, despite it being the most critical and fundamental decision imaginable,” it said.

Shin Bet acknowledged its failures in its October 7th probe, including: failing to warn the public about Hamas’s plans to attack, misunderstanding Hamas’s intentions, failing to recognize Hamas as having a military and instead viewing them solely as a terror group, and the belief that terrorists were planning a major attack in Judea and Samaria rather than Israel’s southern border communities.