Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday provided a security and diplomatic briefing in a closed session of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, but the session quickly escalated into a heated confrontation with opposition members.
During the meeting, Netanyahu revealed that at 5:15 a.m. on the morning of October 7, 2023, the Shin Bet (ISA) put out an official document summarizing all of the warnings received during the night from the Gaza Strip. According to Netanyahu, the document reached his office only at 9:47 a.m. - over four hours after it was sent out.
Netanyahu claimed that the original document did not include any instruction to inform the Prime Minister, noting that only in the most recent Shin Bet reports submitted did there suddenly appear an instruction to inform him. According to Netanyahu, the Shin Bet likely forged and added the instruction to update the Prime Minister. The document is signed by then-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.
Netanyahu also noted that he passed these findings to State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman as part of the investigations into the events of October 7, adding that Englman was "amazed" at the information. The Committee also responded with shock.
Earlier in the meeting, Netanyahu read out protocols from past Cabinet meetings and claimed that former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had previously blocked widescale actions in the Gaza Strip.
"Bennett always opposed the occupation of Gaza," Netanyahu was quoted as saying while reading from the protocols.
Some opposition members stormed out of the closed session, angrily attacking: "Is this why we came to the session? To hear Bibi reading us protocols from the Cabinet against Bennett, [Gadi] Eisenkot, and [Benny] Gantz?"
"Does he think we're stupid? They didn't even let us ask a single question."