Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that sharp disagreements broke out between Israeli Minister of Transportation Miri Regev and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy during the cabinet meeting.
The Israeli newspaper added that Regev attacked Halevy and raised her voice regarding the military intelligence estimates that were presented to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before October 7, the date of the major attack launched by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the Palestinian factions on settlements in the Gaza Strip.
Yedioth Ahronoth revealed that Regev asked Halevy about the reasons for the army’s lack of preparation for the October 7 attack despite the availability of prior information from military intelligence, and that she asked him about the reason for sacrificing the residents of the south and reducing the number of soldiers on the Gaza border.
The newspaper also quoted Regev as saying that everyone heard the warnings of the female soldiers monitoring the border and the intelligence division, which were ignored and the female soldiers were underestimated.
It also revealed that Regev asked the chief of staff why he was exposing the army to danger and making his soldiers like ducks on the wall opposite Gaza.
According to Yedioth Ahronoth, the Chief of Staff responded that the issue of warnings regarding October 7th is being addressed in the investigations.
Constant debate
The debate in the mini-cabinet comes two days after a similar debate between Netanyahu and Army Intelligence regarding security warnings he received before the attack on October 7, 2023, and he did not react to them.
The Israeli occupation army announced last Thursday that Netanyahu had received several warnings from military intelligence during the year 2023 regarding the security risks facing Israel, during the internal unrest that occurred as a result of the government’s plan to amend the judicial system.
For his part, the Israeli Prime Minister issued a statement on Thursday afternoon in which he said, “The military establishment’s claim that I was warned before October 7 of a possible attack from Gaza is contrary to the truth.”
Netanyahu added, “The assessments of the security institutions do not indicate any warning of Hamas’ intention to attack Israel, but rather provide the opposite assessment.”
He stressed that “the security services have always claimed that Hamas has been deterred.”
