Gallant casts doubt on Netanyahu's version of October 7 events

Former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, in an interview with Channel 12, cast doubt on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's account of his actions on the morning of October 7, 2023. Gallant stated he did not see Netanyahu at the Kirya headquarters until 10:00 AM and criticized the "atmosphere of defeatism" he said was created around the premier. Likud rejected the claims, asserting that Netanyahu was on site from 8:22 AM.

Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, in an interview with Channel 12, cast doubt on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's official account of his actions on the morning of October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked southern Israel. Gallant stated he did not see Netanyahu at the military headquarters in the Kirya in Tel Aviv until 10:00 AM — roughly three and a half hours after the attack began. He also could not recall a substantive phone conversation with the premier in the early hours. Gallant rejected claims that Netanyahu maintained full control of the situation and suggested comparing photographs from those meetings. Criticizing the premier, Gallant noted that an "atmosphere of defeatism" arose around Netanyahu and admitted this seriously worried him. The former minister also questioned Netanyahu's claim that the situation might have unfolded differently if he had been woken earlier: even after waking at 6:30 AM, the premier arrived at the Kirya only around 10:00 AM. Likud rejected Gallant's statements, accusing him of lying, and asserted that Netanyahu was at the Kirya by 8:22 AM and waited there for Gallant and the Chief of Staff until 9:55 AM, without specifying what the premier did during that interval.