Fearing personal retaliation: All the warnings — and the disregard

Ronen Bar filed a defamation lawsuit against Netanyahu, revealing a series of warnings he conveyed to the Prime Minister in the year leading up to October 7, including a recommendation to eliminate Yahya Sinwar. According to Bar, Netanyahu repeatedly ignored the warnings, feared personal harm as retaliation for targeted killings, and focused on protecting himself and on protests against public figures.

Ronen Bar, the former head of the Shin Bet, filed a defamation lawsuit this morning (Wednesday) against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. As part of the lawsuit, Bar revealed a series of unusual warnings he conveyed to Netanyahu in the year leading up to the October 7, 2023 massacre. As early as November 2022, at their first working meeting, Bar recommended a targeted elimination of Yahya Sinwar. Netanyahu did not respond. In the following months, Bar repeatedly warned of terrorist intentions from Gaza to the West Bank, of Hamas becoming a military arm of Iran, and of the danger of a multi-front campaign. In an unusual personal letter from February 2023, Bar warned of a "perfect storm" — a combination of Israel's internal rift and instability in the Palestinian arena. Netanyahu's response was a demand to protect elected officials, primarily himself and his family. In May 2023, after Operation Shield and Arrow, Netanyahu said he feared that the equation of targeted killings would be balanced by actions against him personally. In July 2023, Bar conveyed a strategic warning of a war on the red line, and Netanyahu ignored it. In September 2023, the Shin Bet recommended a "blowout shutdown" — a preemptive strike after the holidays. Netanyahu instructed to maintain a quiet holiday period. A week before the massacre, on October 1, Netanyahu approved advancing targeted killings but without setting a date.