Overview

• In a rarity, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has apologized and retracted a statement where he seemed to place blame on security services for a failure to prevent a significant October 7 Hamas attack.
• Netanyahu initially claimed to have not received any warnings of Hamas’s 'war intentions' at any stage, but later retracted, asserting his full backing for the security chiefs and the Israeli Defense Forces.
• Netanyahu's initial comments led to a storm of criticism, including from Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, who accused the Prime Minister of crossing a red line by passing the blame onto the security services.
• Netanyahu's initial assertions were met with outrage and condemnation, leading him to delete his original statement on X (formerly Twitter), where he had made the controversial comments.
• Following the backlash, Netanyahu's office released a statement to clarify his retracted post, asserting that the Prime Minister did not receive specific warnings about the war and he has 'full confidence' in the security and defense forces.