Israeli Politics26 September, 20262 min read
Barak Séri Says Netanyahu Blocks Official Commission Of Inquiry Into October 7
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Netanyahu blocking an official commission of inquiry into the October 7 attacks Seri alleges Netanyahu ignored warnings received before the October 7 attack
8 outlets told this the same way.
Netanyahu accused of blocking
Former Israeli Army Intelligence officer Barak Séri said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is doing everything possible to prevent the formation of an official commission of inquiry into the events of October 7, 2023. Séri added in a post published on Saturday on his X account that Netanyahu received many warnings before the attack but took no action, writing, "Days before the catastrophe, all red flags were lit for Netanyahu, inside the country and abroad, but he did nothing."
Séri’s accusation came as opposition and broad segments of Israelis called for an official inquiry committee into the October 7 failures, while Netanyahu rejected this. The Knesset approved, in its first reading, a bill to form an inquiry committee of a political nature, amid an opposition boycott accusing the government of seeking to cover up the failures that accompanied the attack.
Warnings, ignored and denied
Barak Séri told Israeli and international audiences that Netanyahu was warned and alerted before October 7, but he ignored all of it, saying, "That is why Netanyahu is personally blocking the establishment of a commission of inquiry," in a post published Saturday on X. The Anadolu Ajansı account also tied the claims to reporting that Netanyahu did not transmit warnings to Shin Bet, Mossad, or the Military Intelligence Directorate known as Aman, citing unidentified security officials.
The report also said The Atlantic described former Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel secretly traveling to Israel 11 days before October 7 to alert Israeli authorities about a possible Hamas attack, while Egyptian authorities had not officially commented on the findings. The accusations intensified alongside Israeli and international reports that warned of threats before the attack from Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, while Netanyahu’s office denied some of these narratives and the UAE Foreign Ministry said it "does not comment on reports or speculation in the media about conversations between government leaders."
Public support and stakes
An Israeli poll from the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies showed 75% support forming an official commission of inquiry, while 59% said they fear a repetition of October 7-type attack from the Gaza Strip in the coming years. The same poll reported that 2,057 Israelis have been killed since October 7 across various fronts, including 1,722 fatalities in the Gaza Strip, and it also recorded 179 fatalities on the Lebanon front and 90 fatalities in the West Bank.
“And now the facts are becoming clear... Days before the catastrophe, all the red flags were raised in front of Netanyahu, inside the country and abroad, but he did nothing.”
The poll’s findings also showed 61% expressed satisfaction with the Israeli army’s performance in the Gaza Strip, compared to only 34% with the government’s performance, and it reported that 44% of all participants and 47% of the Jewish public expressed high confidence in how the army conducts investigations and draws lessons. As the debate over responsibility continued, Barak Séri concluded that "Now the facts are becoming clear: days before the catastrophe, all the red flags were raised in front of Netanyahu, inside the country and abroad, but he did nothing," linking the warnings to Netanyahu’s opposition to an official investigation.