Netanyahu After Wife's Conspiracy Claims: No 'Internal Betrayal' on October 7

[Right_in_Virginia]

Netanyahu After Wife's Conspiracy Claims: No 'Internal Betrayal' on October 7
Haaretz, Sep 2, 2026

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that he "does not think" there was an internal "betrayal" on October 7, following fierce backlash against his wife, Sara Netanyahu, for promoting a conspiracy theory involving political rival Yair Golan and his efforts to rescue victims on the day of the attack.

"There was a failure," Netanyahu said in a video, pointing to "all the signs" in the hours before the Hamas attack. "Because of a miscalculation – a desire not to provoke Hamas – they decided not to wake me up and not to launch a preemptive attack."

Golan, the center-left Democrats leader and former deputy IDF chief who rescued people fleeing the Nova massacre on October 7, hit back on X: "You don't 'think,' Bibi? You know perfectly well there was no betrayal. On October 7, we went out to save lives while you froze."

"A real leader doesn't equivocate in the face of blood libels. He apologizes to the fighters and condemns the lies that came from his own home," Golan wrote, calling Netanyahu's remarks "not an apology, but an attempt at damage control."

In the interview, which aired Monday night, Sara Netanyahu said of Golan: "You're a military man of such a high rank, you claim you fought on October 7, and early in the morning you were already there, dressed and ready, at a very, very early hour, when others didn't know – such as the prime minister."

[...]

Speaking to Haaretz, Golan said Sara Netanyahu's remarks were "part of a systematic and persistent effort to smear everyone who functioned while they did nothing."

"It's not just me. There were thousands who volunteered, without any political affiliation. Anyone they perceive as a political threat gets hit with conspiracy theories, in a process that has penetrated deep into Israeli society," he said.

"This is the calculated and deliberate work of the poison machine, fed by the circle surrounding Netanyahu – and it may, in my assessment, come from him personally as well," Golan added.


More:  https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-politics/2026-09-02/ty-article/.premium/netanyahu-after-wifes-conspiracy-claims-no-internal-betrayal-on-october-7/000001a0-60f0-d234-aff2-70f942180000

[Right_in_Virginia]

FTA:

Other leaders of the anti-Netanyahu bloc also condemned Sara Netanyahu's remarks.

Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot called her comments an "insane betrayal conspiracy" with "no factual basis," saying it was intended "solely to inflame hatred and perpetuate Netanyahu's rule." 

"Netanyahu is fleeing responsibility for the worst failure in Israel's history, which he led us into through blindness, inaction and disregard for every warning sign," Eisenkot wrote on X.

Yzshar Chairman  Naftali Bennett accused "Netanyahu, his wife and those around him" of spreading "a sick, false and dangerous conspiracy against IDF and Shin Bet commanders and against Yair Golan."

"The truth is simpler: For many years, Netanyahu fed the Hamas monster. The monster grew to enormous proportions and attacked us on the morning of October 7," Bennett wrote on X. "Netanyahu's attempt to rewrite history will not succeed. Netanyahu bears direct responsibility for the massacre."

Bennett also praised Golan's actions that morning: "Yair Golan got into his car with a weapon and drove into the inferno. He risked his life to save lives."

"Other good people from across the country did the same and saved the State of Israel from a disaster ten times greater. The people of Israel owe all these heroes a debt of gratitude for generations," Bennett added. 

[Right_in_Virginia]

Netanyahu Spoke to No One When He Was Woken Up on October 7. So, What Did He Do?
Haaretz, Sep 3, 2026

One version of the "generals' betrayal" conspiracy theory being promoted by the Netanyahu family and its supporters who call themselves "patriots," centers on the question, "Why didn't they wake him up?" In other words, when the first intelligence began coming out of the Gaza Strip on the night of October 6-7, the heads of the defense establishment decided to handle the problem themselves.

But conspiracy theories aside, we need to revisit what happened and what didn't happen when they finally roused the prime minister.

Neither from home nor on his way to the Kirya defense headquarters did Benjamin Netanyahu speak with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, **Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi or Shin Bet head Ronen Bar. He spoke to them for the first time that morning only when he met them in the Kirya.

Netanyahu believes that Halevi and Bar, together with Aharon Haliva, the head of Military Intelligence at the time, were working together against him. In an exclusive interview that he had with his spokesman Topaz Luk, Netanayahu said, "I want to tell you why they didn't wake me. They thought that Hamas was deterred. They were afraid that if they wakened the prime minister – sorry, this majnun [this crazy one], they knew exactly what I would do. They knew that I would deploy the air force and that I'd wake up the entire IDF and that I wouldn't let anyone [Hamas] get close to the fence – we'd kill them immediately."

Let's not forget two key facts:

The first is that the massacre was not some isolated event – it was planned over years by the very heads of Hamas who Netanyahu had refused to assassinate and conducted by a terror organization that Netanyahu insisted on strengthening and funding through the Qataris, who were paying the prime minister's advisers to provide them with services.

The second fact is that Netanyahu has personally prevented all attempts to investigate the failings of that day through a state commission of inquiry that would uncover the facts.

Putting those aside, the first documented phone call to the prime minister occurred at 6:29 A.M. from his military secretary, Avi Gil, who informed him of the Hamas attack. Netanyahu's first question was, "Why are they shooting?" This from a man who now claims that defense officials deliberately plotted behind his back out of fear he would respond forcefully. Due to a technology glitch, they had to cut short the conversation and resumed it at 6:40.

And what did Netanyahu do after the first, brief call? He and his aides have refused to say, despite numerous inquiries addressed to them over the past three years. Between 7:00 and 8:00, his diary is blacked out with the notation Information Security above it.

After that, the diary says "Trip to the Kirya." Gallant later said that Netanyahu arrived after 9 A.M. after the first situational assessment which Gallant conducted with the heads of the general staff and other top officials had already ended.

A source close to Netanyahu this week tried to make the case to me that the prime minister had left his Caesarea home earlier and had arrived at the Kirya earlier, too. That is doubtful, but in any event it does not really change anything if the prime minister did not take part in the discussions and decisions at the situational assessment.

Netanyahu first arrived at the general command center at 9:50 A.M., a time that appears both in the center's record and in the prime minister's diary. At 10:30, he found time to talk to the prime minister of The Netherlands Mark Rutte and at 11:00 he filmed a press statement.

That does not seem like the timetable and conduct of a battle-hungry "majnun" summoning the air force, mobilizing divisions and closing the border. In fact, the one order he issued was to confirm directives Gallant and Halevi had already made to dispatch units to the Gaza border area and mobilize reserves.

From this, one can hazard a guess as to what would have happened if he had been awakened with the intelligence information that night: He would have gone back to sleep.


https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2026-09-03/ty-article-opinion/.premium/netanyahu-spoke-to-no-one-when-he-was-woken-up-on-october-7-so-what-did-he-do/000001a0-63b2-d43a-affe-7ff256140000

* * The Chief of Staff is the highest ranking Officer and head of the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) --- holding the same role as the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

[Hoodat]

[Right_in_Virginia]

I wish this was bullshit @Hoodat   But, after just weeks shy of three years and multiple, non-stop wars, Israelis are still waiting for answers regarding the attack on Oct 7, 2023 ---- and it's tearing them apart.

Netanyahu should do what's right for his nation and end his veto of and relinquish his control over a state commission of inquiry.  Let the truth see the light of day, let those responsible step forward, let the mistakes made and failures be corrected --- so healing can begin and security restored.