'Despicable Conduct' • Former Shin Bet Chiefs Slam Netanyahu as 'Primarily Responsible' for Failure on Oct. 7
4 views
Skip to first unread message
Sid Shniad
Feb 13, 2026, 7:14:29 PM (4 days ago) Feb 13
to
https://archive.li/iGzx5
Haaretz February 13 2026
'Despicable Conduct' • Former Shin Bet Chiefs Slam Netanyahu as 'Primarily Responsible' for Failure on Oct. 7
Netanyahu's 55-page affidavit, released last week, 'contains classified materials and is worded unilaterally,' wrote the former agency chiefs, demanding that Shin Bet security service Chief David Zini reject 'the false claims of treason on the eve of October 7'
Netanyahu and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar in 2023. Credit: Kobi Gideon/BauBau
Yaniv Kubovich
Five former chiefs of the Shin Bet security service and 31 former department heads in the agency slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for discrediting the agency, demanding that the current agency chief deny the allegations.
In a joint statement, the former agency staff cited "unprecedented attacks on former service chief Ronen Bar and on directors, combatants and employees who served in the organization on October 7."
Netanyahu and members of his coalition are spearheading the attacks on the agency, they wrote. "This is despicable conduct on the part of the person primarily responsible for the policy that led Israel to one of the gravest failures in its history."
Netanyahu's 55-page affidavit, released last week, "contains classified materials and is worded unilaterally," wrote the former agency chiefs, demanding that Shin Bet Chief David Zini reject "the false claims of treason on the eve of October 7."
The signatories demanded that Zini respond firmly against the harm to service personnel, and against "the false report about a meeting between Shin Bet Southern Command personnel and the commander of Hamas' Gaza Brigade on October 6."
They also urged Zini to respond to the "unlawful disclosure of Shin Bet employees' names by elected officials in violation of their personal safety," referring to MK Tally Gotliv from Netanyahu's Likud party.
Last month, Gotliv was called to an indictment hearing following her January 2024 social media post in which she revealed the identity of a Shin Bet agent, claiming that the husband of protest leader Shikma Bressler worked for the security agency.
Bressler is a prominent figure in the protest movement opposing the government's judicial overhaul.
On Monday, Netanyahu published a post on his X account, claiming that former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar led a rebellion against him on the day of the October 7 attack.
Quoting Erez Tadmor, his former adviser and a founder of the far-right NGO Im Tirtzu, Netanyahu wrote, "Ronen Bar decided that Benjamin Netanyahu is an illegitimate prime minister who has already dragged Israel into an unnecessary war (2014), and therefore – to prevent him from causing another miscalculation – chose to appoint himself de facto prime minister on the night of the massacre."
The post continued, "After the rebellion they led ended in the most horrific disaster in the country's history, they added sin upon crime and embarked on a campaign of cover-up, forgery, and rewriting of history."
Bar Peleg contributed to this report.
Haaretz February 13 2026
'Despicable Conduct' • Former Shin Bet Chiefs Slam Netanyahu as 'Primarily Responsible' for Failure on Oct. 7
Netanyahu's 55-page affidavit, released last week, 'contains classified materials and is worded unilaterally,' wrote the former agency chiefs, demanding that Shin Bet security service Chief David Zini reject 'the false claims of treason on the eve of October 7'
Netanyahu and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar in 2023. Credit: Kobi Gideon/BauBau
Yaniv Kubovich
Five former chiefs of the Shin Bet security service and 31 former department heads in the agency slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for discrediting the agency, demanding that the current agency chief deny the allegations.
In a joint statement, the former agency staff cited "unprecedented attacks on former service chief Ronen Bar and on directors, combatants and employees who served in the organization on October 7."
Netanyahu and members of his coalition are spearheading the attacks on the agency, they wrote. "This is despicable conduct on the part of the person primarily responsible for the policy that led Israel to one of the gravest failures in its history."
Netanyahu's 55-page affidavit, released last week, "contains classified materials and is worded unilaterally," wrote the former agency chiefs, demanding that Shin Bet Chief David Zini reject "the false claims of treason on the eve of October 7."
The signatories demanded that Zini respond firmly against the harm to service personnel, and against "the false report about a meeting between Shin Bet Southern Command personnel and the commander of Hamas' Gaza Brigade on October 6."
They also urged Zini to respond to the "unlawful disclosure of Shin Bet employees' names by elected officials in violation of their personal safety," referring to MK Tally Gotliv from Netanyahu's Likud party.
Last month, Gotliv was called to an indictment hearing following her January 2024 social media post in which she revealed the identity of a Shin Bet agent, claiming that the husband of protest leader Shikma Bressler worked for the security agency.
Bressler is a prominent figure in the protest movement opposing the government's judicial overhaul.
On Monday, Netanyahu published a post on his X account, claiming that former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar led a rebellion against him on the day of the October 7 attack.
Quoting Erez Tadmor, his former adviser and a founder of the far-right NGO Im Tirtzu, Netanyahu wrote, "Ronen Bar decided that Benjamin Netanyahu is an illegitimate prime minister who has already dragged Israel into an unnecessary war (2014), and therefore – to prevent him from causing another miscalculation – chose to appoint himself de facto prime minister on the night of the massacre."
The post continued, "After the rebellion they led ended in the most horrific disaster in the country's history, they added sin upon crime and embarked on a campaign of cover-up, forgery, and rewriting of history."
Bar Peleg contributed to this report.
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages