Israeli opposition figures accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of responding too slowly to the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. According to Israel’s Channel 12, Netanyahu received an alert at 6:29 a.m., but did not contact the Israeli Army Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi, between then and Netanyahu’s arrival at the Kirya military headquarters in central Tel Aviv.
The reports say Netanyahu’s Office documented a 9:00 a.m. arrival in its published diaries, while Channel 12 puts his actual arrival at 9:30 a.m. Netanyahu also disputes the timing and responsibility, saying he was not properly informed and that Israel’s security chiefs failed to wake him to share details of the Hamas attack. He states that, had he received the information, he would immediately have mobilized the military.
Outlet accounts place the dispute in the context of political recriminations ahead of an Israeli election, with renewed calls for an inquiry into Oct. 7 events. Sources also reference prior opposition claims, including an allegation from Netanyahu’s rival, former general Gadi Eisenkot, that Netanyahu was unreachable for two hours in 2018 after an Israeli jet was shot down over Syria.
