Contrary to claims made by Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief Ronen Bar, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's military secretary received a call from the Shin Bet only at 6:15 a.m., sources present in the Prime Minister's Office on October 7 told Maariv.
The statement follows the dramatic affidavit Bar submitted to the High Court of Justice on Monday, challenging the government’s decision to dismiss him. The Prime Minister's Office issued a sharp response, calling Bar’s affidavit untrue.
“Ronen Bar submitted a false affidavit to the High Court today, which will soon be refuted in detail. Stay tuned,” the statement said.
A key issue raised in the affidavit concerns the Shin Bet’s actions in the hours before the Hamas attack on the morning of October 7. Bar stated that he instructed that Netanyahu’s military secretary be updated at 5:15 a.m.
Conflicting reports on Oct. 7
However, sources familiar with the situation said that while such an instruction may have been given, the military secretary at the time, Maj.-Gen. Avi Gil was not contacted by a Shin Bet representative until 6:15 a.m.
The Hamas attack began at 6:29 a.m. The timing of these events is expected to be a central focus of any future state inquiry into the failures that led to the October 7 massacre.
In the affidavit, Bar wrote: "At the end of my situational assessment at 5:15 a.m., I instructed that the prime minister’s military secretary (Maj.-Gen. Avi Gil) be updated. The prime minister’s update was part of a broader series of instructions I issued at the conclusion of the meeting. Nothing was withheld from the prime minister that night."