JERUSALEM: A former close aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that immediately following the October 2023 Hamas attack that triggered Israel’s two-year war in Gaza, the Israeli leader instructed him to figure out how the premier could evade responsibility for the security breach.
Former Netanyahu spokesperson Eli Feldstein, who faces trial for allegedly leaking classified information to the press, made the explosive accusation during an extensive interview with Israel’s Kan news channel Monday night.
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Feldstein said Netanyahu looked ‘panicked’ when he made the request. He was later told to omit the word ‘responsibility’ from all statements.
Critics have repeatedly accused Netanyahu of refusing to accept blame for the deadliest attack in Israel’s history. But little is known about Netanyahu’s behavior in the days immediately following the attack, while the premier has consistently resisted an independent state inquiry.
Speaking to Kan, Feldstein said “the first task” he received from Netanyahu after Oct. 7, 2023, was to stifle calls for accountability.
“He asked me, ‘What are they talking about in the news? Are they still talking about responsibility?’” Feldstein said. “He wanted me to think of something that could be said that would offset the media storm surrounding the question of whether the prime minister had taken responsibility or not.”
He added that Netanyahu looked “panicked” when he made the request. Feldstein said he was later told by people in Netanyahu’s close circle to omit the word “responsibility” from all statements.
Netanyahu’s office called the interview a “long series of mendacious and recycled allegations made by a man with clear personal interests who is trying to deflect responsibility from himself,” Hebrew media reported.
