🔹 Netanyahu’s office denies Egyptian warning: In a statement reported by Amit Segal, Netanyahu’s office said he neither met nor spoke with Abbas Kamel, then head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service, in the months before October 7, and that no Israeli intelligence official conveyed an Egyptian warning to him.
The office said Netanyahu instructed that a defamation lawsuit be filed over the matter. It also said he never meets or speaks with a foreign intelligence chief without their Israeli counterparts present.
The statement accused “left-wing media” of conducting a “vicious and false campaign” in recent weeks to blame Netanyahu for what it described as former Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) chief Ronen Bar’s “failures and crimes” before October 7.
It further alleged that foreign and hostile countries and actors, including Arab states, were behind “false blood libels” aimed at bringing down Netanyahu’s right-wing government and replacing it with a government of left-wing and Arab parties led by Eisenkot, Yair Golan and Lieberman. It claimed such a government would withdraw from Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Judea and Samaria, and establish a Palestinian state.
The statement concluded: “That is the question in the elections: it’s either the right, or Palestine.”
⚖️ Ronen Bar plans lawsuit and demands warning records: Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar has instructed his lawyers to file a defamation lawsuit against Netanyahu, according to a statement issued on Bar’s behalf. He is demanding disclosure of testimony and documents concerning information provided to Netanyahu before October 7, along with Netanyahu’s schedule of meetings with the security establishment and foreign officials.
The statement accused Netanyahu of an “unrestrained campaign of incitement” against Bar, alleging that he selectively published documents and misrepresented their context. It also accused him of refusing for three years to acknowledge responsibility and obstructing the establishment of a state commission of inquiry.
According to the statement, Bar gave Netanyahu unprecedented warnings of an impending disaster, but the prime minister ignored them, along with recommendations to restore deterrence and strengthen the border. It alleged that Netanyahu is now attempting to deflect scrutiny by attacking the person who warned him in real time, as evidence of the warnings he received emerges.
The statement said Bar had waited for a commission of inquiry, which it described as owed to the public and bereaved families, but could no longer allow the alleged falsehoods to continue. He intends to summon Netanyahu’s staff and aides whom he accuses of assisting an ongoing manipulative campaign, alongside anyone who distorted documents or disseminated false and defamatory information about him.
Bar called for the immediate disclosure of all documents so the public could learn the full truth. The statement said the legal action also seeks to protect the memory of the fallen and the dignity of Shin Bet personnel who have been fighting in the shadows for the past three years.
It concluded: “Victory is achieved through a preemptive strike against the enemy outside, not against the security forces at home.”
Segal assessed that the lawsuit faces a significant legal obstacle: Netanyahu enjoys immunity that, under case law, applies in the overwhelming majority of cases to statements made in the course of his official duties. He therefore described the chances of the lawsuit being heard in court as low.
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