Former Shin Bet chief sues Netanyahu for defamation

Former Shin Bet director Ronen Bar has filed a defamation lawsuit against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Netanyahu's statements about Bar's responsibility for the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023. The suit comes on the eve of Israel's October 27 election, where Netanyahu is fighting to hold on to power, and is expected to heighten political tensions in the country.

According to the lawsuit, Bar argues that Netanyahu "lied to exonerate himself" and that the prime minister's attribution to him of "criminal failures" in the attack amounts to defamation. In the court filing, Bar says he telephoned the prime minister's military secretary as soon as he detected signs of a possible attack, but did not have Netanyahu's direct phone number.

Netanyahu, for his part, insists he was not warned by Bar on the morning of the attack, and says he could have prevented it if the then-Shin Bet chief or military leaders had called to wake him on the day.

Bar's suit accuses Netanyahu of making accusations "he knows to be false, in order to divert debate away from his own responsibility for the events of October 7." Instead, the suit argues, it was Netanyahu's own policies over the years that "increased the danger posed by terrorist organizations in Gaza."

Response from Likud

On Wednesday, Netanyahu responded to Bar's allegations in a statement issued by his Likud party: "Ronen, are you serious?"

"You have my number on the hotline and could have called me immediately, as every security chief does," Netanyahu said, asking: "How many lives could we have saved if you had just called in time?"

Bar resigned as Shin Bet chief in June 2025 amid controversy over the deadliest attack in Israel's history, but maintains he had warned Netanyahu in advance about the threat. He is seeking 3 million shekels (about $968,500) in damages from Netanyahu.

Warnings, lies and manipulation

The claims in Bar's suit come days after Netanyahu's former military secretary, Avi Gil, told Israel's Channel 12 that the prime minister's office had "distorted records related to October 7, 2023," including by altering the timestamp of a key phone call recording.

Gil, who served as Netanyahu's military secretary from July 2021 to May 2024, said a stenographer in the prime minister's office approached him in January 2024 with instructions from Netanyahu's chief of staff to change the time of a four-minute call from 6:40 a.m. local time (3:40 GMT) to 6:29 (3:29 GMT).

"She told me, I am not allowed to change it," Gil recounted, accusing Netanyahu's office chief of manipulating the phone records, adding: "These are the facts, and there is no argument about them."

Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Netanyahu had been warned about the attack by Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel. In a rare move, Kamel is said to have called the Israeli prime minister just days before the attack, following earlier warnings in September 2023 when he reportedly flew to Israel to warn security officials directly that Hamas was planning an attack.

Polls show Netanyahu is in a tight race to stay in power in the October 27 election, after fierce criticism from former staff, government officials and the opposition for failing to prevent the attack. According to an AFP tally based on official figures, at least 1,221 Israelis were killed on October 7, 2023, after Hamas breached the barrier separating Israel and Gaza. In addition, 251 Israelis were taken hostage, including the bodies of 44 Israelis killed that day.

In the three years since, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, Israel has killed more than 74,300 people in Gaza. More than 1,400 Gazans have been killed in Israeli strikes since a temporary US-backed "ceasefire" was reached last year.