Unheeded Warnings
New reporting shows Netanyahu was warned repeatedly that Hamas was planning a major attack, including by Egyptian and Emirati leaders, and did nothing. As he blocks an official inquiry, the question grows harder to avoid: did Israel’s leadership allow October 7 to happen, and use it as the pretext to destroy Gaza?
Rev. J. Mark Davidson
10/1/20263 min read
This past week, The Wall Street Journal and the Israeli newspaper, Ha’aretz, reported that indicted war criminal Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top military commanders received numerous intelligence briefings before October 7th warning that Hamas was planning a “major operation” against Israel. First, in late September 2023, Israeli surveillance teams submitted a detailed report that Hamas appeared to be staging practice drills for breaking down the border fence, capturing Israeli soldiers, and kidnapping hostages. Their warnings were dismissed by Israeli commanders as “an imaginary scenario.” Then came two well-sourced intelligence warnings, first from Egyptian intelligence chief, Abbas Kamel, who warned that Hamas was planning “something big” in the very near future, and second, a high-level phone call from United Arab Emirates (UAE) president Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ) directly to the Israeli prime minister, imploring him to take these security warnings with the utmost seriousness. Netanyahu incongruously brushed off both warnings and did not alert the military. It is also relevant that a Golani Brigade soldier, Shalom Sheetrit, stationed at the Pega military base 250 meters from the border with Gaza, testified to the Knesset in 2025 that early on the morning of October 7th, his unit received an unusual order to stand down from their routine morning patrols. Now, amidst public clamor for an official Israeli “commission of inquiry” into the events of October 7th, Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing and opposes the commission.
It has always seemed highly suspicious to me that one of the most heavily-surveilled borders in the world – between Gaza and southern Israel – was left so vulnerable on the morning of October 7th. This is especially suspect, given Israel’s reputation for state-of-the-art surveillance technology. Why didn’t the Israeli prime minister, who built his political career as “Mr. Security,” act on these warnings and, in an abundance of caution, place the Israeli military on high alert? Why oppose an official commission of inquiry? If he has nothing to hide, he should welcome a full airing of the facts. Why make a secret trip to the UAE to ask MBZ’s help in denying that he ever warned Netanyahu before October 7th, unless it is damningly true and he is desperate to cover up any corroborating evidence? Hopefully, truthful answers will come out in a thorough investigation. That said, it seems to me that it is not far-fetched to wonder if, in fact, Netanyahu and a small circle of advisers were perfectly willing to allow October 7th to happen, and purposefully did not act to prevent it. Why would they do such a thing? Because a shocking attack with mass casualties and hostages would provide Israel with a powerful pretext to do exactly what they did – annihilate Gaza. Everyone expected a swift and decisive retaliation from Israel to hold accountable those who had staged the brutal attack, and to try to recover the hostages. But Israel’s military response quickly became an all-out extermination campaign. While most of the rest of the world looked on in horror, the planners of the genocidal assault acted with clear intent and determination, moving deliberately toward their goal of rendering Gaza unlivable. It is undeniable that Israel amplified grisly tales of beheaded babies, which they knew were not true, and spread sensationalist falsehoods about systematic rape, which have been debunked. This atrocity propaganda built on the original pretext of October 7th, and reinforced the hysteria that Israel had “no choice” but to “destroy the monsters.” There’s no question that Israel would not have been able to destroy Gaza if they did not have the pretext provided to them by October 7th. Whether it was a madman’s plan to allow October 7th to happen and then capitalize on the fury and bloodthirst, has not been proven. Perhaps there is another explanation backed up by the facts. But I would not be the least bit surprised if that’s indeed what we learn. And if that turns out to be true, the tragedy won’t be that the warnings went unheeded, but that they were deliberately ignored.