Striking claim regarding Hamas attack: Israeli intelligence did not 'wake up' Netanyahu

While debates continue in the Israeli public regarding the Al-Aqsa Flood operation launched by Hamas's armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, against Israel on October 7, a striking claim has been put forward.

The US press has alleged that Israel's domestic intelligence agency, Shin Bet, could not decide for a long time whether the attack was a Hamas drill when it first began.

According to a report by The New York Times (NYT), Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar could not reach a conclusion around 03:00 local time on Saturday morning, October 7, when the large-scale attack began, as to whether what they were seeing was 'one of Hamas's drills.' Shin Bet officials were monitoring Hamas activities in the Gaza Strip from their headquarters that morning. The Hamas actions observed throughout the night, which were described as 'unusually active for nighttime hours,' were initially evaluated by the Israeli domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet, which was convinced that the organization had 'no intention of going to war,' as 'merely a night drill.' 

'ATTACK WAS NOT TAKEN SERIOUSLY, NETANYAHU WAS NOT WOKEN UP'

Israeli intelligence had stopped listening to the handheld radios of Hamas members about a year ago, deeming it a 'futile effort.' According to the NYT, if Israel had not made such a decision, their response to the attack preparations that night might have been different.

On the other hand, as the hours progressed, Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar, assessing that Hamas might be 'attempting a small-scale attack,' discussed this concern with high-ranking generals and ordered a group of 'elite counter-terrorism forces' known as the 'Tequila' team to be deployed to Israel's southern border. According to information shared by three Israeli defense officials, no one believed the situation was serious enough to wake up Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu until the attack began.