Statement from the Prime Minister's Office
Israel - Prime Minister's Office
Press Releases
The 37th Government
23.05.2024
The Prime Minister's Office, today:
The claim that Prime Minister Netanyahu received early warning from IDF Intelligence about a possible attack from Gaza is the opposite of the truth. Not only was there no warning of any kind about a Hamas intention to attack Israel from Gaza, but a completely opposite assessment was provided.
Two references to Hamas in four intelligence documents point out that Hamas did not want to attack Israel from Gaza and that it favored a peaceful arrangement. The first reference, from 19 March 2023, notes that Hamas's strategy is "leaving Gaza on the back burner" and focusing attacks against Israel from other arenas.
The second reference from 31 May 2023 recommended that Israel join the "regional de-escalation trend" and "take a step forward toward a peaceful arrangement with the Gaza Strip and the Hamas sovereign."
All of the security bodies consistently supported these assessments that Hamas was not interested in escalation but in an arrangement with Israel and that Hamas was deterred.
As to the claim raised in the documents about the negative effect on our enemies of a lack of cohesion in Israel, the Prime Minister himself repeatedly warned about this danger when he spoke of those refusing to serve in the military.
For example, on 17 July 2023 the Prime Minister warned that the internal debate "is gnawing away at our deterrence against our enemies who could be tempted to act aggressively against us."
Yet Prime Minister Netanyahu was accurate when he warned Israel's enemies that on the day of reckoning "the internal debate will not impair our determination and strength to strike them whenever necessary."
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