Netanyahu Requested Hamas Deal Plan Days Before October 7

A new front has opened in the legal battle between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar: Channel 13 reported Thursday night that Netanyahu himself requested Bar draft a plan for an arrangement with Hamas, which was presented to him on October 5, 2023, just two days before the October 7 attack. The disclosure contradicts Netanyahu's claim in an interview with Ila Hasson on Kan 11 that Bar initiated the plan.

According to the report, as part of drafting the arrangement, the former Shin Bet chief proposed setting two conditions for any deal with the terror organization: the return of four hostages held in Gaza and a halt to terror operations directed from the Strip. But the report states that Netanyahu refused to include both conditions in the plan.

Sources close to Bar attacked the prime minister over the matter, calling it "part of Netanyahu's campaign of deception against the public."

The Prime Minister's Office rejected the report, stating in response: "An absolute lie. This was a Shin Bet plan, which was part of Ronen Bar's consistent position to preserve quiet in the Gaza Strip and to expand humanitarian aid and the number of workers entering Israel."

The disclosure comes against the backdrop of the legal confrontation between the two men. On Wednesday, Bar filed a three-million-shekel defamation lawsuit in district court against Netanyahu, following the prime minister's claim that Bar knew of a "real danger" on the night of October 7 but deliberately refrained from updating him in real time.

October 7 massacre (Photo: Abed al Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

In the lawsuit, Bar presented a series of warnings and recommendations he conveyed to Netanyahu throughout 2023. Among other things, he claims he warned of the possibility of war with Hamas and recommended assassinating senior figures in the organization.

According to the lawsuit, on September 21, 2023, Netanyahu received an assessment from the Shin Bet's research division recommending a preemptive strike. Netanyahu, according to the documents Bar presented, responded that he was not interested in escalation with Gaza and demanded the use of force in a calculated manner.

The suit further claims that on October 1, 2023, six days before the massacre, Bar warned of a peak in terror operations being directed from Gaza and recommended assassinating senior Hamas figures.

With the filing of the lawsuit, Bar clarified that he bears responsibility for the Shin Bet's part in the failure to prevent the October 7 attack, but rejected the claims the prime minister made against him.

Netanyahu, for his part, repeated his claim that Bar did not update him in real time about the signs discovered on the night of the attack. In response to the lawsuit, he said: "Ronen Bar, who saw the signs on the night of October 7 and didn't call me, says today that he didn't have my phone number. Ronen, are you serious?"

The Prime Minister's Office in response to the Channel 13 report:

"An absolute lie. This was a Shin Bet plan that was part of Ronen Bar's consistent position to preserve quiet in the Gaza Strip and to expand humanitarian aid and the number of workers entering Israel."