Netanyahu’s remarks, which caused outrage across the Israeli opposition, highlight the deep political polarization in the country ahead of the tense elections on October 27.
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In a television interview broadcast on Monday evening, S. Netanyahu attacked Yair Golan, a former deputy chief of staff of the army, who leads Israel’s center-left Democratic Party.
She implied that Y. Golan was already “dressed and ready at dawn on October 7, 2023, while others knew nothing, including the prime minister.”
S. Netanyahu’s interview was broadcast on Israel’s Channel 14, which is close to the government. These comments immediately sparked outrage from the opposition.
Y. Golan’s party announced that it strongly condemns these “vile and deceitful” remarks.
“Spreading conspiracy theories against Major General Yair Golan and tarnishing his heroism on October 7 crosses a red line bordering on madness,” the party wrote in a post on the social network X.
Gadi Eisenkot, a former army chief who became the main challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, condemned what he called the “crazy betrayal conspiracy theory” spread by the prime minister’s wife.
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On the social network X, he wrote that these comments “are only intended to incite hatred and consolidate Netanyahu’s government.”
S. Netanyahu’s accusations reflect recurring conspiracy theories within a part of Israel’s political elite.
According to a Channel 13 poll conducted in August, 40% of Israelis and 63% of current right-wing coalition voters believe that the October 7 attack—the bloodiest day in Israel’s history—was caused by internal betrayal.
B. Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister who presents himself as the country’s security guarantor, avoids responsibility for the attack, claiming that security officials should have woken him up.
According to AFP statistics based on official Israeli data, the Hamas attack on Israel claimed 1,221 lives. Fighters also took 251 hostages—44 of whom are dead—and took them to the Gaza Strip.
Israel responded with a large-scale offensive in the Gaza Strip, during which at least 73,454 people were killed, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, which operates under Hamas control and whose data the United Nations (UN) considers reliable.
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