Netanyahu accuses former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar of withholding Oct. 7 warnings, says attack could have been prevented and again denies UAE alert

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar of failing to act on warning signs before Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack, arguing that the assault could have been stopped if the information had been passed to him and Israeli forces near Gaza’s border communities.

Netanyahu said Bar received indications that Hamas operatives had been told to gather at mosques in Gaza but did not alert the prime minister or troops in nearby communities. He said security officials had not contacted him because “they knew that I would have acted in a very determined, very strong, very powerful manner.”

Bar has rejected Netanyahu’s account, saying he warned the prime minister that the security situation was deteriorating before the attack. He has accused Netanyahu of selectively presenting documents to shift responsibility for the failures and threatened legal action over the prime minister’s accusations. Bar has also called for relevant records and testimony to be made public.

Netanyahu again denied reports that United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed warned him of a looming Hamas attack, calling the reported warning false. Recent investigations have reported that bin Zayed warned Netanyahu of a significant threat shortly before Oct. 7; Netanyahu’s office has repeatedly denied receiving such a warning.

In separate remarks, Netanyahu said Israel could not exist without its Jewish identity and asked whether the country should “become Denmark or Sweden.” He added that Sweden was “gradually becoming Islamized.”

Israel’s Oct. 27, 2026, election is the country’s first since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack, and the dispute over advance warnings and accountability has become a prominent campaign issue. Netanyahu has resisted calls for a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the attack.