The bizarre behind-the-scenes story of the Egyptian intelligence minister's conspiracy

The report about the landing of the Egyptian intelligence chief in Israel before October 7 turned out to be baseless. For weeks, no one in the security establishment bothered to refute it. From the publication in 'The Atlantic', through the statements of former military secretary Avi Gil, to Netanyahu's response on 'The Patriots' — the media was swept into a storm that achieved the opposite result.

The report about the landing of the Egyptian intelligence chief in Israel before the October 7 massacre turned out to be completely baseless, but for weeks no one in the security establishment bothered to refute it. The story began with a publication in 'The Atlantic' magazine last month, which echoed in Israeli media with hints of a meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu. Former military secretary Avi Gil loudly confirmed that an Egyptian plane landed at Ben Gurion Airport and stayed for an hour, without clarifying that it was the intelligence chief. Netanyahu himself responded to the reports on the set of 'The Patriots' and fell for fake news. Only later did security officials confirm that nothing was known about such a landing. The article claims that the media made a fool of itself and sold its principles for ratings and to harm Netanyahu, and that the result will be the opposite — the public will want to continue voting for him as a protest vote.