Benjamin Netanyahu's military secretary on October 7, 2023, has accused the prime minister of passing up chances to bring hostages home alive in order to protect his coalition. Netanyahu rejects the claim.
Avi Gil (Screenshot, Channel 12)
Benjamin Netanyahu's military secretary on October 7, 2023, has accused the prime minister of passing up chances to bring hostages home alive in order to protect his coalition. Netanyahu rejects the claim.
Avi Gil, who held the post from July 2021 to May 2024, made the allegations in a Channel 12 interview on Thursday. Asked whether hostages died in captivity when they could have been returned earlier, he said: "They could have come back before." Pressed on whether Netanyahu chose his government and his political survival over their lives, he replied: "Factually, that is exactly what happened." He added that "political considerations are also part of the matter" in running a country.
Gil said Netanyahu sometimes bent to far-right ministers who opposed hostage deals and ceasefires. Of the 251 people taken hostage that day, 46 were abducted alive and died in captivity. Asked whether some could have been saved, Gil said: "We could have."
He also accused Netanyahu's chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, of tampering with phone records from the morning of the attack. He said the prime minister's account of the lead-up, including his submission to the state comptroller, omits key details, and that security chiefs repeatedly warned of coming war, though not of the specific scenario that unfolded.
Netanyahu said the interview was "an attempt to obscure the simple and painful truth about his failure." Gadi Eisenkot called for a criminal inquiry, and Avigdor Liberman accused Netanyahu of treason. The claims come less than three weeks before Israel's first election since the attack.
Benjamin Netanyahu alleged on Thursday, without providing evidence, that Arab parties' record gains in an election this week were driven in part by voter fraud, a charge rejected by Arab leaders who accused the premier of incitement.
Qatar on Thursday flatly denied interfering in Israel’s legislative elections, after several Israeli officials and media outlets accused Arab parties of receiving funds from the Gulf emirate. Doha’s denial, however, has done little to quiet suspicions, given its history of buying influence abroad.
Yemen's Houthis attacked Aden airport on Wednesday, Yemeni government forces said, after the Iran-aligned group warned people to evacuate the facility as fighting escalated in the impoverished country caught in the wider Middle East conflict.
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