Former Israeli Security Chief Sues Netanyahu for Defamation Over October 7

As Israel's elections approach, Bar and Netanyahu have each been held responsible for the Hamas-led attack.

The Shin Bet, the former head of Israel's Internal Security Agency, has sued Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for defamation over his alleged responsibility for the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack.

Wednesday's filing is set to heighten the country's political drama just ahead of Israel's looming Oct. 27 election in which Netanyahu is fighting for his political life.

Former Shin Bet director Ronen Barr accused Netanyahu of "lying to cover himself up" and said in a 134-page court document that he accused him of "criminal failures" in the attack was slander against the prime minister.

Barr said he called the prime minister's military minister as soon as signs of a possible attack emerged, but did not have Netanyahu's direct number.

Netanyahu has said that Barr did not warn him of the attack on the morning of the Hamas leadership, and insists that he could have stopped the attack if the then Shin Bet director or Shin Bet military leaders had called to wake him up early on the day of the attack.

Barr's complaint alleges that Netanyahu has made allegations he knows to be false in order to divert the discussion from his own responsibility for the events of October 7.

Instead, it was Netanyahu's policies over several years that "increased the dangers posed by terrorist organizations in Gaza."

On Wednesday, Netanyahu responded to Barr's accusations in a statement released by his Likud party, saying, "Ronen, are you serious?"

"You had me," Netanyahu asked, adding, "If you had called in time, how many people could we have saved?"

Barr resigned as Shin Bet chairman in June 2025 amid recriminations for the deadliest attack in Israel's history, while insisting he informed Netanyahu of the threat in advance.

He is seeking three million shekels (about $968,500) from Netanyahu.

The allegations in Barr's lawsuit come days after Netanyahu's former military minister, Avi Gil, told Israel's Channel 12 that the prime minister's office had falsified "records dating back to October 7, 2023," including changing the time of a recording of a key phone call.

Gil, who served as Netanyahu's military minister from July 2021 to May 2024, said a typist in the prime minister's office approached him in January 2024 with orders from Netanyahu's chief of staff to change the four-minute call time from 6:40 a.m. local time (03:40:20 MTG).

Gill accused Netanyahu's chief of staff of tampering with phone records, adding: "He told me, I'm not allowed to change it."

Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Abbas Kamel, Egypt's intelligence chief, had warned Netanyahu about the attack.

In a rare move, Kamel called the prime minister just days before the attack and reiterated earlier warnings in September 2023. He is said to have flown to Israel to personally warn security officials that Hamas was planning an attack.

Polls show Netanyahu in a tight race to stay in power in the Oct. 27 election after being slammed by former staff and government officials as well as the opposition for failing to stem the bloodshed.

According to official Israeli statistics, at least 1,221 Israelis were killed on October 7, 2023 after Hamas breached the fence between Israel and Gaza.

Also, 251 Israelis were captured, including the bodies of 44 Israelis killed that day.

In the three years since, Israel has killed more than 74,300 people in Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

More than 1,400 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in Israeli attacks since a tentative US-backed "ceasefire" was reached last year.