Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court today in response to petitions surrounding the dismissal of the head of the Shin Bet, claiming that Ronen Bar’s remarks about having issued a war warning were untrue. Netanyahu referred to the intelligence breakdown that preceded the October 7th massacre as “the greatest failure in the history of the State of Israel.”
According to Netanyahu, during a security assessment conducted by Ronen Bar at 5:15 AM on October 7 — roughly an hour and a quarter before Hamas launched its brutal attack — there was no indication of an imminent war. “Bar bears direct and immense responsibility for the failure to prevent the massacre. He did not awaken other security forces, but rather deluded them,” Netanyahu stated in his affidavit.
The affidavit continues, alleging that “Bar’s insecurity in maintaining calm in Gaza at all costs led him to hold on to his misconceptions out of fear that Hamas would interpret these actions as intentions of war on the part of Israel and thus go to war against us. While Ronen Bar talked about ‘miscalculation,’ Hamas had already attacked.”
Netanyahu further asserted that if Bar had ordered the IDF to a state of “high readiness” rather than keeping them at a “medium and secret” alert level, and had instructed immediate broad military action, the tragedy could have been averted. “If Bar had called the IDF to prepare in ‘high readiness’ and not ‘medium and secret,’ and instructed the IDF to initiate broad action immediately, the massacre would have been avoided,” the affidavit stated.
Addressing Bar’s version of events, Netanyahu rejected the claim that Bar successfully activated the security apparatus during the night of the massacre. Netanyahu wrote, “He did not awaken the Minister of Defense. He did not awaken the Prime Minister. He did not awaken the head of the National Security Council and IDF forces. He did not awaken the civilian emergency squads in the Gaza region communities. He did not warn those partying at the Supernova festival. He did not fulfill his main role that night.”
The affidavit also disputes the assertion that Ronen Bar had issued serious warnings about Gaza. Netanyahu argued that throughout 2023, Bar actually advocated for policies that would bolster Gaza’s economy and opposed targeted killings, all to preserve a sense of quiet. “Ronen Bar said that Sinwar is a reasonable leader,” the affidavit notes, adding that Bar also said in cabinet discussions before October 7 that “the Gaza Strip is deterred.”
In connection with the effort to postpone his trial, Netanyahu addressed accusations against him, insisting that “contrary to Bar’s false statement, the Prime Minister never requested to delay his trial or cancel it, but on the contrary. The Prime Minister asked not to postpone the trial even for a day.”
Netanyahu’s affidavit also levels accusations of political bias against Bar, claiming that he engaged in improper political conduct. Netanyahu stated that “while operating agents at right-wing demonstrations, Bar fabricated lies about a demand to activate the ISA at left-wing demonstrations.”
Along with the public affidavit, the court also received classified annexes containing sensitive information.
Click here to read the full affidavit.
{Matzav.com Israel}