JERUSALEM (AP) — A former shut aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that instantly following the October 2023 Hamas assault that triggered Israel’s two-year struggle in Gaza, the Israeli chief instructed him to determine how the premier might evade accountability for the safety breach.
Former Netanyahu spokesperson Eli Feldstein, who faces trial for allegedly leaking categorised data to the press, made the explosive accusation throughout an in depth interview with Israel’s Kan information channel Monday evening.
Critics have repeatedly accused Netanyahu of refusing to just accept blame for the deadliest assault in Israel’s historical past. However little is thought about Netanyahu’s conduct within the days instantly following the assault, whereas the premier has persistently resisted an impartial state inquiry.
Talking to Kan, Feldstein mentioned “the primary process” he obtained from Netanyahu after Oct. 7, 2023, was to stifle requires accountability.
“He requested me, ‘What are they speaking about within the information? Are they nonetheless speaking about accountability?’” Feldstein mentioned. “He wished me to think about one thing that may very well be mentioned that may offset the media storm surrounding the query of whether or not the prime minister had taken accountability or not.”
ARIEL SCHALIT by way of Getty Photographs
He added that Netanyahu regarded “panicked” when he made the request. Feldstein mentioned he was later informed by folks in Netanyahu’s shut circle to omit the phrase “accountability” from all statements.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 folks in southern Israel and took 251 hostages again to Gaza. Israel then launched a devastating struggle in Gaza that has killed almost 71,000 Palestinians in Gaza, in keeping with Gaza’s Well being Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants however says round half the deaths had been girls and kids.
Netanyahu’s workplace referred to as the interview a “lengthy sequence of mendacious and recycled allegations made by a person with clear private pursuits who’s attempting to deflect accountability from himself,” Hebrew media reported.
Feldstein’s statements come after his indictment in a case where he is accused of leaking categorised navy data to a German tabloid to enhance public notion of the prime minister following the killing of six hostages in Gaza in August of final yr.
Feldstein can be a suspect within the “Qatargate” scandal, one in all two shut aides to Netanyahu accused of accepting cash from Qatar whereas additionally working for the prime minister.
