A former spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims that immediately after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, the prime minister instructed him to think of ways to avoid responsibility for the security failure.
Netanyahu’s former spokesman, Eli Feldstein, who is currently on trial for leaking classified information to the press, made the statement in an interview with Israel’s state-run Kan television.
Critics have repeatedly accused Netanyahu of failing to take political responsibility for the deadliest attack in Israeli history. However, little is known about the prime minister’s behavior in the days following the attack; he has consistently resisted an independent state investigation.
In an interview with Kan, Feldstein said that his “first task” after the prime minister’s appointment on October 7 was to neutralize public calls for accountability.
“He asked me, ‘What are the media writing? “Are they still talking about responsibility?” He wanted me to think of a wording that could mitigate the media storm surrounding the prime minister’s acceptance or non-acceptance of responsibility,” Feldstein said.
