Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is forcefully denying reports that he received warnings from foreign intelligence officials ahead of the October 7 Hamas attack and says his legal team is preparing libel lawsuits over the allegations.

Netanyahu specifically rejected claims involving Abbas Kamel, who headed Egyptian intelligence at the time. He said he neither met nor spoke with Kamel during the months leading up to October 7 and maintains that Israeli intelligence officials never passed an Egyptian warning to him.

Netanyahu also shifted responsibility toward the security leadership operating on the night before the attack. He said then Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar was in contact with IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and Military Intelligence chief Aharon Haliva as warning signs were being discussed.

According to Netanyahu, despite those conversations, Bar did not personally alert him, mobilize the necessary forces and local security teams, or order the evacuation of the Nova festival. Netanyahu also pointed to the deployment of a small Shin Bet Tequila unit as evidence that security officials recognized a potentially serious threat.

Netanyahu then accused hostile foreign actors, including Arab states, of helping fuel what he described as a campaign of “false blood libels” designed to place responsibility for the October 7 failures on him and ultimately bring down his government.

He tied the controversy directly to Israel’s political battle, claiming his opponents would pursue withdrawals from territories where Israeli forces currently operate and advance the creation of a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu ended with an election message of his own:

“It’s either right wing, or Palestine.”