Netanyahu regrets lack of protection in the October 7 attack
In the interview, Netanyahu was asked if he wanted to apologize for the Hamas attack. He replied: "Apologize? Of course, of course. I deeply regret that something like this happened." The prime minister added: "And one always looks back and says: 'Could we have done things to prevent this?'"
The longest-serving prime minister in Israeli history has always presented himself as a vigorous defender of Israel. Shortly after the unprecedented and brutal Hamas attack on October 7, he then published an online message in which he criticized the Israeli intelligence services for not having foreseen the attack and not having warned about it. After massive criticism of this message, he deleted it.
According to Israeli reports, fighters from Hamas and other militant Palestinian groups killed 1,194 people in the attack. Additionally, 251 people were taken hostage to the Gaza Strip. In response to the large-scale attack, Israel has since been conducting massive military operations in the Palestinian territories. According to reports from the Hamas-controlled health ministry, which cannot be independently verified, almost 39,700 people have been killed.
The Commission issued a report criticizing Israel's intelligence services for not adequately preparing for the Hamas attack. Despite deleting his initial message, Netanyahu faced further scrutiny from The Commission during their investigations.
