Former Israeli security chief accuses Netanyahu of lying about not being warned about October 7th

Ronen Bar, former head of the Israeli Shin Bet internal security service, filed this Wednesday (14) a defamation action against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, in which he accuses him of having lied about not having been warned about the attack carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

Bar, who was in charge of the Shin Bet at the time of the terrorist attack, claims that Netanyahu made against him "accusations that he knew were false, with the aim of diverting the debate from his own responsibility for the events of October 7th".

Two weeks before the Israeli legislative elections on October 27, which are expected to be fierce, Netanyahu's campaign is overshadowed by accusations of security failures when the Hamas attack took place.

In June 2025, Bar resigned after admitting failings in his service. "All systems failed. The Shin Bet didn't know how to give the warning," he declared. "As the head of the organization, I took responsibility."

However, he says he warned Netanyahu on several occasions about possible threats from Hamas before the attack. Therefore, he accuses the prime minister of “lying to protect himself”.

Netanyahu has always said he was not informed. In a 134-page document, Bar lists the "slander" of which he considers himself a victim by the prime minister and questions the accusations of "criminal negligence" made against him.

"It was the Prime Minister's policy for several years that reinforced the dangers arising from terrorist organizations in Gaza", he states.

Netanyahu criticized the army and Shin Bet commanders for not waking him up in the early hours of October 7 because, according to him, things "would have been different" if they had done so.

Ronen Bar claims to have called the prime minister's military advisor before the attack. He says he did not have the Israeli prime minister's direct number.

“Ronen, are you serious?” reacted Netanyahu when he was cited by his party, Likud, this Wednesday. "You had my redline number and could call me immediately, as do all the heads of the security services. How many lives could we have saved if you had just called in time?"

Bar presented several documents to the court to support his accusations and demands compensation from Netanyahu in the amount of three million shekels (about R$4.8 million).