Netanyahu accused of 'slow response' to 7 October attack ahead of Israeli election

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was slow to respond to alerts from Israel's security apparatus of Hamas' 7 October attack, a report from Israel's Channel 12 said on Friday, as Israel's opposition continues to criticise his conduct during the day.

Netanyahu was reportedly alerted to the attack at 6.29 am, according to the Channel 12 report.

However, he failed to contact Israeli army chief of staff Herzi Halevi or Shin Bet head Ronen Bar between then and arriving at the Kirya, Israel's central military hub, at 9 am.

A source said that though the Prime Minister's Office unpublished diaries marked his arrival at 9, his actual arrival time was at 9.30. This is in contradiction to Netanyahu's own account, which he made on Thursday, saying that he arrived at the hub at 8 am.

Netanyahu also laid blame on Israel's security chiefs for not waking him up to share news of a Hamas attack, saying he would have immediately mobilised Israel's military, despite the C12 report saying he was woken up at 6.29.

This is in contrast to former defence minister Yoav Gallant, who arrived at Kirya at 7.30 after being alerted. Gallant lives farther from Kirya than Netanyahu.

Ahead of Israel's October election there have been accusations and recriminations between the government and the opposition over  responsibility to prevent the October 7 2023 Hamas attack.

Netanyahu has continuously denied calls for a state commission of inquiry into the events of the day that would determine how the attack played out and offer recommendations on personal culpability.

As part of that election sparring, on Wednesday Netanyahu's biggest challenger, former general and leader of the Yashar party Gadi Eisenkot bought up another incident in which the current premier was reportedly slow to respond.

He claimed that he was unable to reach Netanyahu for two hours following the shootdown of an Israeli jet by Syrian anti-aircraft fire in 2018.

In comments made at a Yedioth Ahronoth conference, Eisenkot said that the downing was a "very serious incident."

"I sought to update and consult with the prime minister, but I could not reach him for an hour or two," he said, adding that he decided to destroy Syrian air defence batteries without consulting Netanyahu.

He also accused Netanyahu of culpability over 7 October, claiming that the Prime Minister's office receives regular intelligence, including that which is given to heads of the Israeli army and Shin Bet.

"He should ask himself how he built an environment that does not update him on important information, and he can blame himself for why he wasn't updated."

Netanyahu's long-time right-wing opponent Naftali Bennett also joined the pile in on the Israeli premier, accusing him of spreading a "blood libel" as part of his electioneering over his claims against Israel's security agencies.

"In Netanyahu's blood libel, spreading lies and making the security bodies into the enemy in an effort to cleanse him from direct responsibility for October 7 is a kosher and legitimate action," he said, according to the Times of Israel.

Israel's election is gearing up to be a close race, with recent polling from Channel 13 showing both the far-right coalition led by Netanyahu and Eisenkot's opposition bloc at 53 seats each in the Knesset. Palestinian parties, which make up the joint Hadash-Ta'al-Balad list and Ra'am, make up the remaining 14 seats.