Former Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief Ronen Bar announced on Monday evening that he intends to file a defamation lawsuit against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while demanding the release of testimonies and documents related to information provided to the prime minister before October 7.
Bar is also demanding the disclosure of Netanyahu's schedule of meetings with the defense establishment and foreign officials. He said he intends to summon members of the prime minister's office and his aides to testify, claiming they assisted and continue to assist Netanyahu in a "manipulative campaign."
A statement on behalf of Bar said: "Prime Minister Netanyahu launched an unrestrained incitement campaign against the former Shin Bet chief, one that has no basis in reality."
According to Bar, after Netanyahu refused for three years to acknowledge his responsibility and prevented the public from receiving a state commission of inquiry, he began releasing portions of documents "in a manipulative manner and detached from their true context."
The statement further claimed that as testimonies begin to emerge regarding warnings Netanyahu received before the October 7 massacre, he is "attempting to divert the fire away from himself" by accusing those who warned him in real time.
Bar claims he warned PM of impending disaster before October 7
According to Bar, during his tenure as Shin Bet chief, he warned the prime minister of an "impending disaster" in an unprecedented manner, but Netanyahu allegedly ignored those warnings, as well as recommendations to restore deterrence and strengthen the border.
"Until now, Ronen Bar believed it was right to wait for the establishment of the commission to which the public and the bereaved families are entitled. However, the string of lies cannot be allowed to continue," his statement said.
"Lies, distortion of facts, manipulation of protocols, and the dissemination of misleading information to the public, this is what the prime minister is doing as the extent of the warnings he received before the October 7 massacre is beginning to become clear."
Following the statement, Bar instructed his lawyers to file a defamation lawsuit against Netanyahu and summon for testimony anyone who, according to him, "distorted, falsified documents, and spread false and defamatory information" against him.
He also called on the prime minister to immediately release all documents so that the public can, in his words, "be exposed to the full truth, without manipulation."
The statement added that the defamation lawsuit and the disclosure of information resulting from it are also important "to protect the memory of the fallen, the honor of Shin Bet personnel who have been fighting in the shadows for three years, and the truth," which Bar claims the prime minister is attempting to distort through a campaign of incitement against the heads of the security establishment.
Bar concluded his statement by saying: "Victory is achieved through a preemptive attack against the enemy outside, not against the security forces at home."
Earlier on Monday, Netanyahu denied a report by The Wall Street Journal, citing senior officials in an Arab government, that then Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel warned him in a phone call about an impending attack from the Gaza Strip days before the October 7 massacre.
Netanyahu also attacked Bar, saying: "He was aware of a real danger on the night of October 7, and did not update me."
A statement published on Netanyahu's X/Twitter account said that "no Israeli intelligence official passed on an Egyptian warning to the prime minister," and that the prime minister's office had instructed lawyers to file a defamation lawsuit on this issue as well.
In his response, Netanyahu referred to The Wall Street Journal report that then Egyptian General Intelligence Service chief Abbas Kamel called him in early October 2023, days before the October 7 massacre, and delivered a third warning regarding signs of an impending attack from the Gaza Strip.
"In the months before October 7, I did not meet or speak with Abbas Kamel, who was then head of Egypt's General Intelligence Service," Netanyahu's denial statement said.
"The prime minister never meets or speaks with the intelligence chief of a foreign country without their Israeli counterparts being present."
According to Netanyahu, "in recent weeks, the left-wing media has been conducting a malicious and false campaign intended to place all of Ronen Bar's failures and crimes before October 7 on Prime Minister Netanyahu, while on the night of October 7, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar held many conversations with then IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and then Military Intelligence chief Aharon Haliva, in which they discussed all the warning signs."
Netanyahu claimed that "despite this, Ronen Bar decided not to call and update the prime minister, not to warn the civilian security squads and IDF forces in the field, not to evacuate the Nova festival, and only send a small Tequila team, proving that he knew of a real danger."
Netanyahu says foreign actors are behind "blood libels"
After attacking Ronen Bar, Netanyahu turned his criticism toward "foreign and hostile actors," claiming they were behind "false blood libels."
"Behind these false blood libels are also foreign countries, including Arab countries, with the aim of toppling Netanyahu's right-wing government and replacing it with a government of left-wing parties and Arab parties led by Eisenkot, Yair Golan, and Liberman that will withdraw from Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Judea and Samaria, and establish a Palestinian state."
According to the Wall Street Journal report, citing senior officials in an Arab government, then Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in early October 2023, days before the October 7 massacre, and delivered a third warning regarding signs of an impending attack from the Gaza Strip.
According to the newspaper, the direct conversation between Kamel and Netanyahu had not previously been made public and was one of several early warnings received by Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials before the attack.