Israeli radio host Erel Segal challenged the credibility of opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot during a broadcast Wednesday on Radio 103FM. When co-host Eyal Berkowitz suggested that between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Eisenkot, the answer to "who lies more" was obvious, Segal pushed back. "Just because someone has a cuddly teddy bear demeanor doesn't make him a truth-teller," Segal responded. "I think Eisenkot lies repeatedly."
Media and Politics
Segal Questions Eisenkot's Credibility
Israeli broadcaster challenges opposition leader's truthfulness as Netanyahu files defamation suit over disputed UAE warning report
The exchange came on the same day that Prime Minister Netanyahu announced he would file a defamation lawsuit against Haaretz newspaper over a report claiming he received advance warning about the October 7 Hamas attack. According to the disputed report, the president of the United Arab Emirates allegedly alerted Netanyahu before the massacre that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was planning a major operation.
In a statement, Netanyahu's office said the prime minister had instructed his attorneys to file suit against "the leftist newspaper Haaretz, Shlomi Eldar, and other parties who fabricated a false allegation against the prime minister that never happened and never existed."
The prime minister's office categorically denied any such conversation took place. According to the statement, from the beginning of September through October 7, no phone call occurred between Netanyahu and the UAE president. The Prime Minister's Office, the Foreign Ministry, and the Military Secretary's office conducted a thorough review of Netanyahu's call logs during that period and found no record of such contact.
The statement explained that policy calls between the Israeli prime minister and the UAE president follow a specific protocol: they take place exclusively in the Prime Minister's Office through an Emirati representative who arrives with a special encrypted device. All such calls are documented. The statement noted that Eldar himself said in a Tuesday evening interview on Channel 12 that the alleged warning call he reported would have been conducted in this manner.
However, an in-depth investigation examined not only Netanyahu's call logs but also entry records to the Prime Minister's Office during the relevant period. No entry by an Emirati representative appears in the records. According to the statement, it is impossible to enter the Prime Minister's Office without documentation and registration by security personnel at the facility.
The statement concluded by framing the report as a distraction: "This fabrication is intended to divert attention from what the public already understands: Ronen Bar and Hertzi Halevi saw all the warning signs many hours before the attack began. If instead of fearing miscalculation they had instructed the IDF, Shin Bet, and standby units to preempt the threat, and if they had updated Prime Minister Netanyahu in time, the terrible massacre could have been prevented."
