Netanyahus face backlash over claims that rivals and defense chiefs concealed 7 October raid

Television interview ignites political clash

Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, suggested during a broadcast on the pro-government Channel 14 that opposition leader Yair Golan held prior knowledge of the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack. Golan, a former deputy military chief of staff who heads the center-left party The Democrats, drove to southern Israel on the morning of the assault to rescue civilians from the Nova music festival, where at least 370 people died. In her interview, Sara Netanyahu pointed to his rapid presence on the scene to question why he was prepared while government leadership was not informed.

When you are such a high-ranking military figure who claims to fight, that you were already there early in the morning on 7 October, already dressed and ready, at a very, very early hour, when others knew nothing, including the head of government.

Opposition demands apology and threatens legal action

Golan rejected the claim, characterizing it as defamatory incitement and noting that the Hamas assault began at 06:29 local time, whereas he put on his uniform to head south around 08:00. The Democrats party stated that spreading conspiracies against Golan crossed an unacceptable boundary. Golan gave Sara Netanyahu 24 hours to issue a public apology and demanded 2.5 million shekels (roughly $830,000) in damages to be donated to survivors of the Nova festival, warning that he would file a lawsuit if she failed to comply. Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party and former military chief of staff, also condemned the remarks.

The outrageous conspiracy theory about treason, completely devoid of foundation and spread by the prime minister's wife, has the sole purpose of fueling hatred and perpetuating the Netanyahu government, whose only way of governing is to divide.

Prime minister accuses defense chiefs of deliberate delay

Following his wife's interview, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expanded on the narrative during an Instagram livestream, asserting that senior defense officials deliberately withheld information from him on the morning of 7 October 2023. Netanyahu specifically named former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, arguing that intelligence leaders sought to avoid an escalation. Netanyahu insisted that had officials woken him, he would have mobilized local security coordinators, alerted communities, and ordered the air force to engage anyone approaching the Gaza border fence.

They knew that as the Israeli prime minister, I would have immediately given the order to put the entire military on alert.

Electoral context and polling on internal treason

The exchange unfolds ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for 27 October 2026, in which neither Netanyahu's bloc nor the opposition holds a guaranteed majority in opinion polling. Netanyahu has consistently declined to accept political responsibility for the security failures surrounding 7 October 2023, in which Hamas fighters killed 1,221 people and abducted 251 hostages into Gaza, where 44 subsequently died. The subsequent Israeli military campaign in Gaza resulted in 73,462 Palestinian deaths, according to the territory's health ministry, preceding a ceasefire in place since October 2025. Unsubstantiated theories alleging internal complicity continue to find an audience among voters.