"Direct influence on Hamas's decision": The document written by Netanyahu's aides - and blames the government for the disaster
A 92-page document drafted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's own office staff in response to the State Comptroller reveals that the directives to the IDF in the years leading up to October 7 included preserving Hamas as an effective and restrained governing address, avoiding military defeat, and postponing confrontations. The document, adopted by the State Comptroller, contradicts Netanyahu's claims and places direct responsibility for the disaster on the political echelon.
A dramatic 92-page document, drafted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's own office staff in response to the State Comptroller's draft report from April 2024, reveals the policy directives that led to the October 7 disaster. The document, adopted by the State Comptroller in the report published in November 2025, states that the directives included "preserving Hamas as an effective, restrained, and restraining governing address," postponing confrontations, and avoiding military defeat. It further states that this strategic approach had a "direct influence on Hamas's decision to initiate the October 7 attack." The document contradicts Netanyahu's claims that the IDF and the security establishment acted behind his back and concealed information from him, and states that the military simply followed orders. Among the explicit directives issued from the Prime Minister's Office: in April 2019, Netanyahu ordered "to keep Gaza as a secondary arena, to avoid escalation as much as possible, and to postpone confrontations," and in May 2020, he reiterated the goal of "preserving Hamas as a restrained and restraining address."