Mistakes Until the End: That’s How Seriously Israel Failed Before Hamas Attack Kidnappings for Ransom: 70 Bodies of Suspected Hostages Discovered in Nigeria

Ronen Bar was confused. At 3 a.m. on October 7, the head of Israel’s domestic intelligence service, the Shin Bet, was informed of mysterious Hamas activities in Gaza. He couldn’t make sense of it. Initially, the Shin Bet assumed it was a military exercise and later a limited attack on Israel.

Bar ordered an anti-terrorism unit called the “Tequila Team” south, but refrained from waking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Shortly afterwards the inferno started. Hamas terrorists broke through the barriers and carried out a massacre that left more than 1,400 dead and 200 kidnapped. They encountered little resistance.

The episode is detailed in a New York Times investigation published Monday. It shows how much Israel underestimated the threat of the radical Islamic Hamas, not just on October 7, but for years.

The reason was “arrogance and misjudgment,” according to the New York Times.

The eavesdropping stopped

Netanyahu and the security apparatus have classified Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon as a greater threat. Hamas was believed to be under control. It was believed that Israel’s military and technological superiority would deter the terrorist organization. Consequently, resources were diverted from the southern border.

A unit that intercepted Hamas radios ceased operations a year ago. The reasoning was that the effort was disproportionate to the return. After the fighting ended, Israeli soldiers found just such radios on dead Hamas attackers, and intercepting them was considered a waste of time.

Warnings ignored

Today it is believed that Hamas had been preparing for the major attack for at least a year. Soldiers monitoring the Gaza Strip warned their superiors, but were ignored. The US intelligence community also stopped spying on Hamas in the belief that Israel could tackle the problem.

The heads of the armed forces were certainly concerned because the judicial reforms initiated by the ultra-right Netanyahu government had deeply divided society. According to a military intelligence analysis, the Jewish state’s enemies could take advantage of this sign of weakness and launch an attack.

Hamas instrumentalizes

According to the New York Times, head Aharon Haliva wanted to inform the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, about this on July 24. Exactly two MPs wanted to hear him. On the same day, Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi personally tried his luck with Prime Minister Netanyahu. But he would have refused to receive it.

However, it was still not expected that Hamas would carry out a major operation. In fact, Netanyahu is said to have exploited radical Islamists for years to weaken the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and prevent a separate peace, the New York Times reports, citing former government officials.

Netanyahu wants to shift the blame

An unnamed aide to the head of government denied this version to the newspaper. But the evidence is overwhelming. When the NYT asked Netanyahu for a statement on his investigation, he responded with a statement to

This resulted in a strong response from Benny Gantz, who is part of Netanyahu’s war cabinet. The former chief of staff reminded the prime minister that “leadership comes with responsibility.” Netanyahu deleted the message and apologized. However, to this day he has not acknowledged his responsibility for the total failure.

Fatal belief in border fortifications

“Bibi’s message to the Israelis was that Iran was the real threat,” said Bruce Riedel, a former Middle East expert at the CIA, in an interview with the New York Times. The Palestinian issue, on the other hand, no longer poses a threat to Israel’s security: “All these assumptions were shattered on October 7,” Riedel concludes.

Israel was therefore firmly convinced that the approximately 60 kilometer long ‘barrier’, the construction of which was completed in 2021, would hermetically seal off the Gaza Strip. A surveillance system consisting of cameras, sensors and remote-controlled firearms will contribute to this, allowing the number of soldiers to be reduced.

Hamas uses explosive drones

But Hamas had prepared itself meticulously. She used explosive drones to synchronously destroy the surveillance systems. “All of our screens turned off at almost the same second,” surviving soldiers told investigators. Israel was almost completely ‘blind’ at the time of the attack.

At the same time, Hamas cells attacked the border fortifications in numerous places. “Swarms of terrorists were coming in everywhere,” one soldier told an Israeli website. “The armed forces did not have time to react and stop the attack. Our only option was to escape and save our lives.”

Ultimately, there was a blood trail of terror that would never have happened without the failure of politics, the army and the secret services. This is evident from research by the ‘New York Times’, which is based on interviews and government documents. The result is a traumatized nation and a war in Gaza, with catastrophic consequences for the civilian population.