Former Shin Bet Chief Sues Netanyahu for Nis 3 Million Over October 7 Accusations

Ronen Bar says warnings reached the prime minister’s office before the attack. Netanyahu maintains that Bar should have called him directly.

Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar filed a NIS 3 million defamation lawsuit against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, escalating their bitter dispute over responsibility for the failures preceding the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre.

The lawsuit challenges Netanyahu’s accusation that Bar knew about the threat of an attack during the preceding night but deliberately failed to inform him. Bar acknowledges the Shin Bet’s failure to anticipate and prevent the massacre, but rejects the allegation that he knowingly concealed information.

What Bar alleges

According to reporting on the filing, Bar says he repeatedly warned Netanyahu during 2023 about Hamas’s growing strength, weakening Israeli deterrence and the danger of escalation on multiple fronts.

He also alleges that the Shin Bet distributed urgent intelligence updates beginning at 3:03 a.m. on October 7, with Netanyahu’s military secretariat among the recipients.

The lawsuit says Bar subsequently issued explicit instructions to update the prime minister’s military secretary before the invasion began. Bar maintains that these steps followed established communication procedures and are documented in the agency’s computer logs.

Netanyahu: You could have called me

Netanyahu pushed back on Wednesday, arguing that Bar could have reached him directly.

Responding to Bar’s statement that he did not have Netanyahu’s private telephone number, the prime minister said Bar had access to his secure telephone number and could also have contacted him through his Shin Bet protection detail.

Netanyahu maintained that a timely call could have saved lives.

A feud that predates the lawsuit

The legal action follows a prolonged confrontation between Netanyahu and Bar.

In March 2025, Netanyahu moved to dismiss the Shin Bet chief, citing a loss of trust. Bar alleged that his removal was connected to his refusal to meet improper demands and to sensitive investigations involving Netanyahu’s aides, including the Qatargate affair. Netanyahu’s office rejected those allegations.

The Supreme Court ruled the dismissal unlawful in May 2025. Bar separately announced that he would resign, effective June 15, accepting responsibility for the agency’s October 7 failure.

What remains unresolved

The dispute turns on distinctions between broad warnings about Hamas, intelligence suggesting unusual activity during the night, and knowledge of an imminent mass invasion.

It also raises separate questions about what reached Netanyahu’s office, what reached Netanyahu personally, and whether Bar should have contacted him directly.

Bar’s acknowledgement of an intelligence failure does not resolve the allegation of deliberate concealment. Conversely, evidence that updates reached the military secretariat would not, by itself, establish what Netanyahu personally knew.

The lawsuit has been filed, but the competing allegations have not been established by a court.