Netanyahu alone responsible for October 7 ‘disaster’: Former Shin Bet chiefs

In a Friday letter, the former officials condemned Netanyahu and his allies for relentlessly attacking the Shin Bet following the Palestinian operation, and criticized current agency chief David Zini for remaining silent.

“We have recently witnessed unprecedented attacks on former Shin Bet director [Ronen Bar] and his deputies, operatives, and employees that served in the organization on October 7 [2023], all from the entourage of the prime minister and from coalition members,” the letter read.

The former chiefs denounced Netanyahu’s “55-page document,” which cherry-picked internal cabinet discussions from months and years before the Operation, and delivered it to the regime’s so-called “state comptroller” to present himself as tough on Hamas while shifting blame away from himself.

“This document and the spread of conspiracies about the Operation are part of Netanyahu’s effort, aided by his mouthpieces, to evade responsibility and convince his base that an independent inquiry is unnecessary, as the ‘supposedly guilty parties’ are already known,” the letter said.

It added, “Members of the security establishment, led by Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet, and Herzi Halevi, the [military] chief of staff, took responsibility and resigned. The only one who has consistently acted to absolve himself of any responsibility is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the assistance of his coalition partners.”

The letter is signed by 31 former department heads and five ex-directors of Shin Bet: Yaakov Peri, Carmi Gillon, Ami Ayalon, Yoram Cohen, and Nadav Argaman.

Tensions between Netanyahu and former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar escalated through late 2024 and early 2025, culminating in Bar’s dismissal in March 2025 after Netanyahu claimed he had lost confidence in him. Bar initially challenged the move in court but resigned in June.

Since October 7, Netanyahu and his allies have repeatedly pointed fingers at Shin Bet and the military for failing to anticipate the Operation, while ignoring his own decades-long leadership and responsibility.

Earlier this week, Netanyahu reposted a social media message from former Likud spokesman Erez Tadmor, accusing Bar of falsifying the Shin Bet investigation and acting as “de facto prime minister” during the Operation.

Tadmor alleged Bar viewed Netanyahu as “illegitimate” and worked to cover up the agency’s failures after the Operation inflicted Israel’s greatest defeat.

Netanyahu has blocked independent inquiries for over two years, instead promoting a cabinet-controlled commission critics say would allow him to handpick members and ensure the investigation remains biased.

The al-Aqsa Flood Operation involved coordinated armed strikes from the Gaza Strip into southern Israeli-occupied Palestine, carried out by Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups on October 7, 2023.

Hamas described the Operation as a response to ongoing Israeli occupation, the blockade of Gaza, illegal settlement expansion, and rising settler violence.

In retaliation, Zionist regime has launched a genocidal campaign against Gaza, killing more than 72,000 Palestinians and wounding 172,000, most of them women and children.