For years, Netanyahu oversaw a policy of containing – not confronting – Hamas in Gaza, during which Israeli governments allowed Qatar to provide hundreds of millions of dollars of aid for Gaza.
A month after the 7 October attacks, he told a German newspaper that claims he wanted to strengthen Hamas were “an absolute lie”.
“On the contrary we wanted to continue to weaken Hamas as much as we could,” he told Die Welt. “But the money was meant to avoid a civilian catastrophe – that is the only reason.”
Months after the attack, the IDF’s then-chief of staff, Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, publicly apologised for the failure to defend civilians, saying he carried that weight on his shoulders and in his heart.
He resigned. A raft of military commanders were later fired, and Israel’s domestic intelligence chief left his position.
Netanyahu has so far rejected any personal responsibility for the attacks.
Col Richard Hecht was the IDF’s international spokesman on 7 October. He told me the refusal of political leaders – including Netanyahu – to accept responsibility was part of the reason he resigned six months later.
“It’s a disgrace,” he told me. “When you look at accountability, within the IDF I don’t think there’s a problem. And that’s the pain. That’s one of the main causes of bad blood between the political echelon and the military.”
At a memorial ceremony in Jerusalem on Monday, the father of one of those killed on 7 October stood up to challenge the prime minister.
“You didn’t protect my son, you didn’t protect all those who were murdered,” he said, before security guards led him away. “Shame! Disgrace!”
