Dissatisfaction with Netanyahu grows following reports on October 7
Several newspapers are reporting that the Netanyahu government was warned prior to October 7.
The Prime Minister denies it—but the public’s patience is wearing thin.
"So everyone is lying, and you are the only one telling the truth?" said Einav Zangauker, the mother of a former hostage, at a demonstration yesterday.
Eleven days before Israel's worst terrorist attack in modern times, Egypt’s then-intelligence chief, Abbas Kamel, flew to Israel.
He stayed for 67 minutes.
And his message was as follows, according to the magazine * The Atlantic:
Hamas was mobilizing for a large-scale attack. Israel was advised to change its approach in the ongoing economic negotiations with the terrorist group; otherwise, "Gaza will blow up in your faces."
Exactly who within the government received the information remains unclear.
Nor is it clear what was done with the information.
However, two facts are established:
"The messenger was the message"
"The messenger himself was the message. There is no scenario where Israeli government officials meet with Egypt’s intelligence chief and 'Bibi' doesn't know about it," an Israeli source tells *The Atlantic*.
The Wall Street Journal has followed up on the revelation, reporting that Abbas Kamel repeatedly warned Israel about the attack—most recently just 48 hours before that fateful day.
Reports of an Egyptian warning have surfaced before, though not with this level of detail. Then, as now, the Israeli government denied the claims.
Netanyahu has previously blamed Israeli authorities for the security failure of October 7. Now, that strategy appears to have run its course.
After all, these are not the only media reports on the matter.
In early September, the newspaper * Haaretz* revealed that the President of the United Arab Emirates had called to warn Netanyahu of an impending Hamas attack, but that the information was not acted upon. The Prime Minister has denied this as well and threatened to sue *Haaretz*.
Even former allies are now turning against Netanyahu: former intelligence chief Ronen Bar has threatened to sue the Prime Minister for defamation, alleging that Netanyahu is "trying to deflect blame from himself by leveling accusations against those who warned him."
Influencing how they vote
The question remains whether the events of October 7 will ultimately bring about Netanyahu’s downfall.
Several opinion polls indicate that this issue is a top priority for voters ahead of the parliamentary election on October 27, and many Israelis hold Netanyahu responsible for the security failure.
What is clear is that patience is running out. A demonstration was held in Tel Aviv last Sunday, where Einav Zangauker—mother of former hostage Matan Zangauker—was among the speakers:
"Warning after warning, yet every time we hear the same answer: 'I didn't know,'" she said, according to the Anadolou Agency.
She then addressed Netanyahu directly:
"So everyone is lying, and you are the only one telling the truth?"
Facts
Parliamentary election on October 27
Elections for Israel’s parliament, the Knesset—which has 120 seats—will be held on October 27.
Following the election, the party leader deemed most likely to succeed in forming a government is given the opportunity to gather support for a coalition. In practice, this coalition must win a vote of confidence in the Knesset to begin governing.
Currently, Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing party, Likud, govern in a coalition with other right-wing and ultra-Orthodox parties. In several recent polls, his current governing bloc falls short of the 61 seats normally required for an outright majority.
The primary challenger is Gadi Eisenkot. A former commander-in-chief and minister in Netanyahu’s war cabinet, he has since formed the centrist party Yashar, which is currently one of the larger parties in opinion polls. He, too, would need to form a governing bloc, which is expected to include three other parties. In the latest polls, these four parties combined hold between 53 and 55 seats, meaning they also lack an outright majority. Furthermore, the other three opposition parties have not agreed on a joint candidate for prime minister.
Inga kommentarer:
Skicka en kommentar