Netanyahu Denies October 7 Betrayal Claims After Interview

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued his first response Tuesday evening to the controversy surrounding his wife Sara's recent television interview, firmly stating that there was "no betrayal" on October 7.

Addressing the storm that followed Sara Netanyahu's remarks, which appeared to suggest opposition leader Yair Golan had advance knowledge of the Hamas massacre, the prime minister dismissed the allegations as "nonsense dressed up as something else." He noted that he had been asked this question multiple times before: "Do you think there was betrayal? I said no, I don't think there was betrayal."

Netanyahu elaborated on what he believes actually occurred: "I think there was a failure, a major failure, and it manifested in what happened the night before and the morning before the attack, when all the signs were there and they decided, because of a miscalculation, not wanting to provoke Hamas, not to wake me and not to strike preemptively."

The prime minister concluded: "It's a failure, but it's not betrayal. These things happen. Unfortunately it happened with terrible costs, but it's not betrayal and my wife also didn't say there was betrayal. It's just nonsense."

The controversy stems from an interview Sara Netanyahu gave Monday evening to Channel 14, in which she referenced Golan's activities on October 7. During the interview, the prime minister's wife stated: "When you're a military man of such high rank, claiming you were fighting on the sixth, on October seventh, you were already there early in the morning, already dressed and ready. At a very, very early hour, when others didn't know, such as the prime minister."

Following these remarks, Golan, a former deputy IDF chief of staff who now leads the opposition Democrats party, sent a legal warning letter to Sara Netanyahu demanding she publish an apology and correction within 24 hours, and arrange compensation to be donated to survivors of the Nova music festival massacre.

Earlier Tuesday, the prime minister's wife rejected Golan's demand for an apology, according to political correspondent Amit Segal. She maintained that Golan himself should apologize for his own past statements and actions.