'False political propaganda': Netanyahu, Likud denounce Channel 12's October 7 anniversary coverage

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party issued a statement on Wednesday, denouncing "Channel 12 broadcasting false political propaganda against Netanyahu and Likud with the aim of bringing down the right-wing government and leading to a left-wing government that will establish a Palestinian state," on the third anniversary of the October 7 massacre.

The "facts" according to Likud are that Netanyahu did not receive any advance warning before October 7 about an attack by Hamas from the Gaza Strip, the UAE, or Egypt. Netanyahu's party also cited former US president Joe Biden's adviser Brett McGurk, who appeared to corroborate this.

"The opposite is true. As appears in the official protocols Netanyahu submitted to the State Comptroller, the heads of the security establishment repeatedly claimed that Hamas was deterred, that it was seeking an arrangement, and that humanitarian easements should be given to it to 'preserve the quiet,'" the party said.

Likud said that a May 31 intelligence report stated that "Hamas is looking for new arenas in order to keep the Gaza Strip stable."

A July 23 intelligence report said that no scenario of escalation from the Gaza Strip is materializing, with "the clear and immediate danger in our assessment of escalation is with emphasis on the Lebanese arena," i.e., threats from Hezbollah, the party added.

On October 1, Brig.-Gen. Amit Saar, who was head of the Military Intelligence's Research Division at the time, said that "Sinwar's desire is to return to quiet," according to Likud's list of events.

Saar resigned following the massacre, leaving the military in April 2024, before passing away from cancer on January 1, 2026.

Netanyahu attacked Saar for "rebelling" against him, The Jerusalem Post reported in February.

On October 3, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) told Netanyahu that "security quiet in exchange for easements embodies the potential to preserve stability in the Gaza Strip, possibly even for a long time," according to Likud.

Likud insists Netanyahu first knew about October 7 massacre at 6:29 a.m.

Likud also reiterated its assertion that Netanyahu was first updated about the Hamas terror attack at 6:29 a.m. on the morning of October 7.

"During the night, there were those who saw in real time all the warning signs and did nothing with them. They did not update Israel Police, the emergency response squads, the kibbutzim, the soldiers on the border fence, the people at the Nova music festival, or the prime minister," Likud said.

"If Netanyahu had been updated in real time, everything would have looked different. Netanyahu was the one who decided on the ground maneuver in Gaza and stood firmly against president Biden's pressure to make do with an aerial attack," Likud added.

"In the face of the heaviest pressures from home and abroad, including from all the 'former officials,' Netanyahu is the one who led the conquest of Gaza and Rafah, the tremendous success in releasing all of our hostages down to the last one, the pager operation [against Hezbollah] that stunned the world, the elimination of [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah, [Hamas leaders, Yahya] Sinwar, and [Mohammed] Deif, the conquest of the Mount Hermon peak, the killing of [Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei, the killing of the Iranian nuclear scientists, and above all, saving Israel from annihilation by Iran's atomic bombs," the party claimed.

"Channel 12's false consciousness engineering, in the midst of the election campaign, is intended to bring down the right-wing government headed by Netanyahu, and crown a left-wing, Arab bloc of Gadi Eisenkot, Yair Golan, Avigdor Liberman, and Naftali Bennett, which would withdraw from Gaza, Judea and Samaria, Lebanon, and Syria, and establish a Palestinian state," Likud accused.

The 'Post' revealed what happened among security leaders on October 7 in February exclusive report

Not one single IDF general was in the main operational command center underneath Tel Aviv's Kirya Headquarters, commonly referred to as "the pit," when the attack occured, the Post previously reported in February.

By 7:30 a.m., the IDF General Staff only knew about approximately 40% of the terror infiltrations, the previous report added.

The Israeli military's top commanders did not really start to manage the nation’s defense until about 1:00 p.m., which was also around the time Netanyahu's first video to the public came out, the Post wrote in February.

Then-defense minister Yoav Gallant is the only top official who can say that even his staff did not receive any warning prior to the 6:29 a.m. invasion, the Post reported.

Then-IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi was woken up between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. and received initial updates about a possible Hamas border threat, the Post wrote.

There were additional consultations between the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) between 4 a.m. and 5:15 a.m., with then-Shin Bet director Ronen Bar ordering his staff to update Netanyahu at 5:15, the Post reported.

However, Shin Bet staff only carried out Bar's order at 6:13 a.m. During those 16 minutes between Shin Bet's warning and the start of the infiltrations, Gil chose not to wake the prime minister, believing, along with the entire security apparatus, that no large-scale threat was imminent, the Post wrote in February.

Netanyahu consistently leaves out this fact when he discusses the timeline, trying to portray the defense establishment as intentionally leaving him in the dark, the Post noted.

Additionally, Netanyahu, Gallant, and Halevi did not speak until almost four hours into the war, the Post reported.

Yonah Jeremy Bob and Elliot Kaufman contributed to this report.