Milan, 28 Sept. (LaPresse) – Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar has announced that he will file a defamation lawsuit against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after the latter claimed today that the then head of the intelligence services was aware of the threat of an attack on the night of 7 October but chose not to inform the Prime Minister. This was reported by The Times of Israel, which added that Bar is also seeking the disclosure of documents and witness statements relating to the information provided to Netanyahu in the days leading up to the Hamas attack. Bar is calling for the schedule of Netanyahu’s meetings with foreign officials and members of the security agencies to be made public, and states that his lawyers will request that Netanyahu’s key aides be summoned to give evidence. Bar states that Netanyahu’s allegations against him “have no basis in reality” and claims to have warned him of “an impending disaster in an unprecedented manner, and that the Prime Minister ignored these warnings, as well as the recommendations to restore deterrence and strengthen the border”. “After refusing for three years to acknowledge his own responsibility and having prevented, by every possible means, the establishment of a state commission of inquiry to which the public and the victims’ families are entitled, he has begun to selectively publish documents in a manipulative manner and out of context,” Bar stated. He added: “Now that testimonies are beginning to emerge regarding the warnings he received prior to the massacre, he is attempting to divert the accusations away from himself by directing them against those who had warned him in real time.”
7 October: Former Shin Bet chief sues Netanyahu for defamation
Milan, 28 Sept. (LaPresse) – Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar has announced that he will file a defamation lawsuit against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after the latter claimed today that the then head of the intelligence services was aware of the threat of an attack on the night of 7 October but chose not to inform the Prime Minister. This was reported by The Times of Israel, which added that Bar is also seeking the disclosure of documents and witness statements relating to the information provided to Netanyahu in the days leading up to the Hamas attack. Bar is calling for the schedule of Netanyahu’s meetings with foreign officials and members of the security agencies to be made public, and states that his lawyers will request that Netanyahu’s key aides be summoned to give evidence. Bar states that Netanyahu’s allegations against him “have no basis in reality” and claims to have warned him of “an impending disaster in an unprecedented manner, and that the Prime Minister ignored these warnings, as well as the recommendations to restore deterrence and strengthen the border”. “After refusing for three years to acknowledge his own responsibility and having prevented, by every possible means, the establishment of a state commission of inquiry to which the public and the victims’ families are entitled, he has begun to selectively publish documents in a manipulative manner and out of context,” Bar stated. He added: “Now that testimonies are beginning to emerge regarding the warnings he received prior to the massacre, he is attempting to divert the accusations away from himself by directing them against those who had warned him in real time.”