Israel’s former security chief sues Netanyahu for October 7 defamation

Ronen Bar accuses Netanyahu of being warned before Hamas attacks, as elections loom.

Ronen Bar, the former chief of the Israel Security Agency Shin Bet [File: YOSSI ZELIGER / AFP] (AFP)

The former head of Israel’s domestic security agency Shin Bet has sued Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for defamation over claims of his responsibility in the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack.

Coming just before Israel’s close-fought October 27 election in which Netanyahu is fighting for his political life, the case is set to ramp up the country’s political drama.

Ronen Bar, the former director of Shin Bet, accused Netanyahu of “lying to cover himself” and said it was slanderous of the prime minister to have accused him of “criminal failures” over the attack, in a 134-page court document.

In the 164-page court filing, Bar said he telephoned the prime minister’s military secretary as soon as signs of a possible attack became apparent, but that he did not have Netanyahu’s direct number.

Netanyahu has said he was not alerted by Bar on the morning of the Hamas-led assault, insisting that he could have stopped the attack had the Shin Bet’s then-director or military leaders called to wake him up the day of the early-morning attack.

Bar’s lawsuit says Netanyahu made accusations “that he knew to be false, with the aim of diverting the debate from his own responsibility for the events of October 7”.

Instead, it was Netanyahu’s policies over several years that had “increased the dangers posed by terrorist organisations in Gaza”, it said.

On Wednesday, Netanyahu responded to Bar’s accusations in a statement issued by his Likud party saying, “Ronen, are you serious?”

“You had my number on the red line and could have called me immediately, as all security chiefs do,” Netanyahu asked, adding, “How many lives could we have saved if only you had called in time?”

Bar resigned as head of Shin Bet in June 2025 amid recriminations over the deadliest attack in Israel’s history, while insisting he had informed Netanyahu of the threat in advance.

He is seeking three million shekels (about $968,500) in damages from Netanyahu.

Israeli Prime Minister and Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the lectern to supporters during a party campaign rally at Expo Tel Aviv on September 17, 2026 in Tel Aviv, Israel [Erik Marmor/Getty Images]

Warnings, lies, manipulation

The allegations in Bar’s lawsuit come days after Netanyahu’s former military secretary, Avi Gil, told Israel’s Channel 12 that the prime minister’s office had “falsified records related to October 7, 2023”, including altering the recorded time of a key phone call.

Gil, who served as Netanyahu’s military secretary from July 2021 to May 2024, said a stenographer in the prime minister’s office approached him in January 2024 with instructions from Netanyahu’s chief of staff to change the time of a four-minute call from 6:40am local time (03:40GMT) to 6:29am (03:29 GMT).

“She told me, I’m not allowed to change it,” said Gil, accusing the head of Netanyahu’s office of manipulating telephone records, adding, “Those are facts, and there is no dispute about them.”

Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Netanyahu had been warned of the attack by Egypt’s intelligence chief, Abbas Kamel.

In a rare move, Kamel reportedly phoned the prime minister just days before the attack, underscoring previous warnings in September 2023, when he is said to have flown to Israel to warn security officials in person that Hamas was planning an attack.

Polls show Netanyahu is in a tight race to stay in power in the October 27 election, after being hammered by former staff and government officials as well as the opposition for failing to prevent the bloodshed.

At least 1,221 Israelis were killed on October 7, 2023, after Hamas broke through the fence separating Israel and Gaza, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Also, 251 Israelis were taken hostage, including the bodies of 44 Israelis killed that day.

In the three years since, Israel has killed more than 74,300 people in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry in the enclave.

More than 1,400 Gazans have been killed in Israeli attacks since a tentative “ceasefire” backed by the US was reached last year.

罗南·巴尔指责内塔尼亚胡在哈马斯发动袭击前得到了警告，而此时距离大选仅剩数月。

以色列安全局辛贝特前局长罗南·巴尔 [图片：YOSSI ZELIGER / AFP] (法新社)

以色列国内安全机构辛贝特的前负责人起诉总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡诽谤，指控其应对 2023 年 10 月 7 日哈马斯领导的袭击事件负责。

正值以色列10月27日大选前夕，内塔尼亚胡正为保住政治前途而战，此案势必会加剧该国的政治动荡。

辛贝特前局长罗南·巴尔在一份 134 页的法庭文件中指责内塔尼亚胡“撒谎掩盖自己”，并称总理指责他在袭击事件中犯有“刑事过失”是诽谤。

在长达 164 页的法庭文件中，巴尔表示，一旦出现可能发生袭击的迹象，他就立即打电话给总理的军事秘书，但他没有内塔尼亚胡的直接电话号码。

内塔尼亚胡表示，在哈马斯领导的袭击当天早上，巴尔没有通知他，并坚称如果当时的辛贝特局长或军方领导人在袭击当天清晨打电话叫醒他，他本可以阻止这次袭击。

巴尔的诉讼称，内塔尼亚胡“明知指控不实，却仍提出指控，目的是转移人们对他自己在10月7日事件中所应承担的责任的关注”。

报告称，正是内塔尼亚胡多年来的政策“加剧了加沙地带恐怖组织构成的危险”。

周三，内塔尼亚胡通过他的利库德集团发表声明，回应了巴尔的指控，他说：“罗南，你是认真的吗？”

“你明明把我的电话号码存在红线上，本可以像所有安全主管一样立即给我打电话，”内塔尼亚胡问道，“如果你及时给我打电话，我们能挽救多少生命呢？”

2025 年 6 月，巴尔因以色列历史上最致命的袭击事件而受到各方指责，随后辞去了辛贝特局长的职务。但他坚称，他事先已将这一威胁告知了内塔尼亚胡。

他向内塔尼亚胡索赔 300 万谢克尔（约合 968,500 美元）。

2026年9月17日，以色列总理兼利库德集团领导人本杰明·内塔尼亚胡在特拉维夫世博会举行的党内竞选集会上向支持者发表讲话。[Erik Marmor/Getty Images]

警告、谎言、操纵

巴尔的诉讼指控是在内塔尼亚胡的前军事秘书阿维·吉尔告诉以色列第 12 频道几天后提出的。吉尔称，总理办公室“伪造了与 2023 年 10 月 7 日有关的记录”，包括更改了一次关键电话的录音时间。

吉尔曾于 2021 年 7 月至 2024 年 5 月担任内塔尼亚胡的军事秘书，他表示，2024 年 1 月，总理办公室的一名速记员找到他，指示他从内塔尼亚胡的幕僚长那里更改一次四分钟通话的时间，从当地时间早上 6:40（格林尼治标准时间 03:40）改为早上 6:29（格林尼治标准时间 03:29）。

“她告诉我，我不被允许更改，”吉尔说，并指责内塔尼亚胡办公室主任篡改电话记录，他还补充道，“这些都是事实，对此没有争议。”

上个月，《华尔街日报》报道称，埃及情报局长阿巴斯·卡迈勒曾警告内塔尼亚胡将发动袭击。

据报道，卡梅尔罕见地在袭击发生前几天致电总理，这再次印证了他此前在 2023 年 9 月发出的警告。据说当时他曾飞往以色列，亲自警告安全官员哈马斯正在策划袭击。

民调显示，内塔尼亚胡在10月27日的大选中面临激烈的连任竞争，此前他因未能阻止流血事件而受到前任工作人员、政府官员以及反对派的猛烈抨击。

根据法新社基于官方数据的统计，2023年10月7日，哈马斯突破以色列和加沙之间的隔离墙，造成至少1221名以色列人死亡。

此外，还有 251 名以色列人被劫为人质，其中包括当天遇难的 44 名以色列人的遗体。

据加沙卫生部统计，此后三年里，以色列在加沙杀害了超过 74300 人。

自去年在美国的支持下达成暂定“停火”协议以来，已有超过 1400 名加沙人在以色列的袭击中丧生。