Netanyahu blames ex-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar after report of Egyptian warning

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Ronen Bar, the former head of Israel's domestic security service, of "crimes" connected to the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, claiming Bar knew of a real danger on the night before the assault. Ynet reported that the attack on Bar followed a Wall Street Journal report that Netanyahu had received an advance warning from the head of Egyptian intelligence ahead of the attack. According to Ynet, Netanyahu described recent reports as a "despicable and false campaign" meant to cover for what he called Bar's failures and crimes, saying Bar "decided not to alert" the military and not to evacuate the Nova party.

Later the same day, the Prime Minister's Office issued a separate denial. The Times of Israel reported that the office rejected a report that Netanyahu had asked United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed to publicly deny having warned him before October 7. "Fake news," the office said, adding that Netanyahu's visit to Abu Dhabi the previous day "dealt only with strengthening bilateral ties and regional challenges." The same statement was relayed in Hebrew by the journalist Amit Segal.

Who Ronen Bar is and why he is being blamed

Bar led the Shin Bet, also known as the Israel Security Agency, which is responsible for internal security, counterterrorism and intelligence on armed groups in Gaza and the West Bank. He headed the service at the time of the Hamas attack and is now its former chief.

Netanyahu's statement, as reported by Ynet, shifted responsibility for the pre-attack intelligence picture onto Bar and also onto what the prime minister called "Arab states and hostile foreign elements." His argument centres on the hours before the assault: the claim that the Shin Bet chief had information pointing to a genuine threat but did not pass a warning to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and did not act to clear the Nova party, the outdoor music event that became one of the sites of the attack.

Duelling versions over the "conception"

A separate Ynet analysis described the dispute as one version set against another. According to that report, Netanyahu has presented excerpts from discussions held before the attack and argues that Bar held on to a "konseptziya" of quiet and concessions. The Hebrew word, meaning "conception", is widely used in Israel for the prevailing security assumption before the attack that Hamas was deterred and preferred calm and economic relief to war.

Bar, Ynet reported, answers that the quotations were taken out of context and points to warnings he says he gave. The analysis noted that the protocols from those meetings have not been published in full, and it referred to an affidavit and to proceedings before the High Court of Justice, Israel's top court when it hears petitions against state bodies, as part of the wider dispute between the two men.

The opposition response

Ynet also carried a response from Gadi Eisenkot, a former IDF chief of staff who is now an opposition politician. He said the prime minister's office had ignored warnings, including on the night of the attack itself. His account directly contradicts the picture in Netanyahu's statement, which places the failure to act with the Shin Bet chief.

The Gulf and Egyptian dimension

Two separate foreign claims are now in play. The first is the Wall Street Journal report, as cited by Ynet, that Egypt's intelligence chief warned Netanyahu before the attack. The second concerns the UAE: a report, which the Prime Minister's Office rejects, that Netanyahu asked the Emirati president to deny he had given him a warning. The Times of Israel noted that the UAE had put out a statement confirming Netanyahu's meeting with the Emirati leader in Abu Dhabi, and that the Prime Minister's Office then did the same.

The prime minister's office has not, in the material available, described the substance of any communication with Egypt before the attack. Netanyahu's public response to the Egyptian report, as reported by Ynet, took the form of an attack on Bar and on the publications as a whole rather than a point-by-point account.

What the reports do not say

• None of the reports quotes the Wall Street Journal article directly or sets out what the alleged Egyptian warning contained, when it was given or through which channel.
• The reports do not include a direct response from Ronen Bar to the specific accusation that he chose not to alert the military or evacuate the Nova party; Ynet's analysis summarises his position in general terms.
• It is not stated who first reported that Netanyahu asked the UAE president to issue a denial, or what that report was based on.
• The full protocols of the pre-attack meetings remain unpublished, so the excerpts Netanyahu cites cannot be read in their original context.
• Neither Egypt nor the UAE is quoted in the material on whether any warning was given.