Trial by Defamation: Jerusalem's Blame Game Goes to Court

In modern statecraft, monumental failure usually demands resignation or quiet retreat. In Jerusalem, it yields a statement of claim. Less than two weeks before Israel’s October 27 election, former Shin Bet director Ronen Bar has launched a three-million-shekel defamation lawsuit against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The 134-page filing accuses Netanyahu of systematic falsehoods designed to shift blame for the catastrophic intelligence collapse of October 7, 2023, away from his office and onto the security establishment.

Bar, who resigned in June 2025 following the attack that claimed 1,221 Israeli lives, contends that Netanyahu executed a deliberate campaign to cover his own political liability. According to the lawsuit, Bar alerted the prime minister’s military secretary as soon as alarming indicators surfaced on that morning, though he lacked a direct line to Netanyahu himself. The Prime Minister’s Office has consistently maintained that security chiefs neglected to wake the leader, claiming the assault could have been stopped had he been alerted.

Netanyahu’s political machine responded swiftly to the lawsuit. Through his Likud party, the Prime Minister asked: "Ronen, are you serious?" The official statement pushed back against Bar's account, adding: "You had my number on the red line and could have called me immediately, as all security chiefs do. How many lives could we have saved if only you had called in time?"

This courtroom brawl highlights a broader habit of retroactively adjusting historical records. Avi Gil, Netanyahu’s military secretary from 2021 to 2024, recently revealed that staff inside the Prime Minister’s Office altered telephone logs. Gil detailed how a stenographer was instructed to backdate a four-minute call on October 7 from 6:40 am to 6:29 am, attempting to construct an official record favorable to the Prime Minister.

The argument that the tragedy was merely a failure of morning communications sits uneasily alongside prior intelligence warnings. Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel reportedly warned Netanyahu days before the attack, following in-person warnings in September 2023. Yet, as the electorate prepares to vote, the political discourse revolves not on strategic policy or the human cost—including over 74,300 dead in Gaza and 251 hostages taken—but on phone records and direct lines.

Netanyahu's fight for political survival hinges on convincing the public that an executive can be entirely detached from intelligence without bearing responsibility. Whether voters accept this defense at the polls will decide Israel's political direction on October 27.

Written by Thomas Nussbaumer thomas.nussbaumer@alpineweekly.com