Sources close to the Prime Minister's Office sharply criticized the Shin Bet investigation on Tuesday evening and attacked Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar. "Instead of cooperating with the State Comptroller, Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar presented an 'investigation' that does not answer any questions," the statement claimed. "The Shin Bet’s investigation conclusions do not correlate with the colossal failure and oversight of the organization and its leader." Netanyahu's associates also said that "the head of the Shin Bet has completely failed in everything connected to the organization's conflict with Hamas, in general, and the October 7th massacre, in particular." "Bar misread the intelligence report and was caught up in the ongoing misconception. In the current intelligence assessments, including those issued a few days before the massacre, the main theme accepted by the Shin Bet was that Hamas was interested in maintaining the state of quiet and would not launch any attack." Related articles: 2 citizens charged with planning terror attack on Temple Mount 'How can US have confidence in ISA chief if Netanyahu doesn't?' 11 terrorists who murdered and kidnapped on Oct. 7 eliminated 6 Israeli Arabs accused of transferring millions to Hamas "This was the case in the situation assessment on October 1, 2023, when the Shin Bet head recommended providing civilian benefits to Hamas in exchange for buying quiet. Bar even said that Israel must avoid pinpointed assassinations in Gaza and Lebanon, to avoid another military conflict in Gaza." In addition, sources close to the Prime Minister's Office said, "In the intelligence assessment presented to the Prime Minister on October 3, 2023, Shin Bet Director Bar stated categorically that Hamas was striving to avoid a military conflict with Israel, and he even saw the potential for maintaining stability in Gaza over time if Israel gives Gaza a positive economic horizon." "Worst of all, the Shin Bet and its head did not deal with or address, even on a basic level, the "Walls of Jericho" plan to eliminate Israel (which was not presented to Prime Minister Netanyahu before October 7th), neither in the ongoing situation assessments, nor on the night of October 7th, despite the fact that the Shin Bet has known about the plan since 2018." In conclusion, it was reported that "the head of the Shin Bet did not see fit to wake up the Prime Minister on the night of the massacre – the most basic and obvious decision imaginable." Opposition leader Lapid responded: "The Prime Minister continues to try put the blame on others, this time it's 'they didn't wake me up.' You can think about what you did do when you were woken up. Didn't they wake you up even when they told you that the judicial reform is crumbling the deterrence? Didn't they wake you up even when intelligence warned of a disaster? Didn't they wake you up when you delivered suitcases of money to Hamas?" He added: "This country has been awake for 515 days, we still have hostages in Gaza. It's time for you to wake up, ask for forgiveness, take responsibility. It happened on your watch."
