Ex-Aman official: Shin Bet chief lying on Oct 7 warning

Col. (res.) Ronen Cohen, former deputy head of the research division in Aman (IDF Military Intelligence), launched a sharp attack on Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar over his claims that he warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before the October 7 attack. In an interview with Avi Ratzon, Cohen said Bar's conduct does not align with the protocols required when there is a warning of war.

Cohen opened by saying: "Ronen Bar is simply a liar and a despicable person, who dares, after everything he did not do, not before and not on that evening, to speak this way."

Cohen explained that the security establishment has clear protocols for when an assessment of war danger is received. "If you think there is a warning of war, you issue a warning. A warning is an operational and legal matter, both in Aman and in the Shin Bet. When you issue a warning, no one can ignore it, because they are required to act on it. It is like an order for execution."

According to him, the very fact that no formal warning was issued contradicts the claim that there was a real warning. "You did not issue a warning and you were not even close to it," he said.

Cohen added that if Bar had believed it was a real threat, he would have had to act differently already that night. "If you had thought it was a warning, presumably you would have acted that evening in a different way than some half-shekel hit squad. It does not work like that."

He concluded with another attack on the Shin Bet chief: "That is to say, the man is lying brazenly."