{"id":108387,"date":"2026-05-11T12:57:40","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T12:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/108387\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T12:57:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T12:57:40","slug":"netanyahu-concedes-he-bears-some-responsibility-for-oct-7-but-says-everyone-shares-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/108387\/","title":{"rendered":"Netanyahu concedes he bears some responsibility for Oct. 7, but says \u2018everyone\u2019 shares it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to acknowledge he bears some responsibility for the failures that enabled Hamas\u2019s cross-border invasion and onslaught of October 7, 2023, but claimed that \u201ceveryone\u201d from the top to the bottom of the political, military, and security hierarchies bears responsibility as well, and the \u201creal issue\u201d is what has happened since that day and not what preceded it.<\/p>\n

Asked during a wide-ranging interview with CBS\u2019s \u201c60 Minutes\u201d how it is that all those who were in charge of security during the attack have quit or been fired except him, Netanyahu claimed some departed because their terms were up, and only one or two \u201cclaimed they took responsibility, but it\u2019s not clear what \u2014 what does that mean, you know? What is their responsibility?\u201d<\/p>\n

The remarks were made in an off-mic section of the interview that wasn\u2019t aired on Sunday, and only appeared in CBS\u2019s full transcript<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s look at the political echelon, military echelon, the security echelon. Let\u2019s look down at everyone, and everybody bears some responsibility. Yeah, from the top, from the prime minister down,\u201d he said, going on to repeat his proposal for a politically appointed<\/a> commission of inquiry instead of an independent state commission of inquiry, the country\u2019s highest form of inquiry, which he has refused to form.<\/p>\n

Polls have consistently indicated a clear majority of Israelis support a state commission, and Netanyahu himself backed such an inquiry into the conduct of the previous government in 2022. But the current government has steadfastly refused to consider this, and has yet to okay any inquiry, over two-and-a-half years after the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tGet The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition
\n\t\t\tby email and never miss our top stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think the real issue is, okay, that\u2019s up to October 7th. What about since October 7th?\u201d Netanyahu continued. \u201c[It] was clearly my responsibility to get Israel out of this horrible noose of death that the Iranians put on us. And we did, systematically, very resolutely, go [to] each one of these seven fronts, one after the other, and roll back the tide of terror.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tA car destroyed by Palestinian terrorists is seen at Shaar Hanegev Junction near Sderot, on October 7, 2023. (Ohad Zwigenberg\/AP)<\/p>\n

Netanyahu has given periodic interviews to international media since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack, while largely restricting his interviews with Israeli outlets to those that are considered openly supportive of him.<\/p>\n

According to the Kan public broadcaster, the \u201c60 Minutes\u201d interview was filmed at the Jerusalem home of Netanyahu\u2019s billionaire friend and backer Simon Falic.<\/p>\n

\u2018I don\u2019t claim perfect foresight\u2019<\/p>\n

Asked about a growing perception of him as hungry for conflict, Netanyahu told CBS that until October 7, he was considered \u201cperhaps the most restrained prime minister in Israel\u2019s history,\u201d and that this changed after October 7.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was conceived as being politically tough, but militarily very restrained,\u201d he said of his more than a decade in power in which he had bucked frequent right-wing demands to declare full-on war on Hamas, and had cast such a war as unnecessary. Numerous reports and some top security officials have said publicly that Netanyahu and his government repeatedly rejected plans to kill senior Hamas leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201c[This] obviously changed on October the 7th because they were gonna annihilate us. I didn\u2019t think it was just an attack by Hamas. I saw it, as it was, an attack by the Iran axis to try to annihilate us, through a noose of death,\u201d Netanyahu said, referring to Tehran and its terror proxies.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu recounted how he vowed at the outset of the resulting war that Israel was going to \u201cchange this condition in which they are ganging up on us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he was once viewed as being “militarily very restrained,” but that changed after the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack. https:\/\/t.co\/zrpTgpK8qB<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/bRIM7nxWie<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) May 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

In addition to launching the Gaza war in response to October 7, Israel has since battled the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who attacked Israel in support of Hamas.\n<\/p>\n

Israel has also fought two wars with Iran, including the latest launched together with the United States in February and which is currently in the midst of a fragile-ceasefire.<\/p>\n

However, the premier appeared to admit neither Israel nor the US foresaw the effective use Iran would make of its control of the Hormuz Strait before the recent war began.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t claim perfect foresight, and nobody had perfect foresight. Neither did the Iranians,\u201d Netanyahu said when asked about a New York Times report that he had predicted that Tehran would be too weakened by the US-Israeli airstrikes to choke off the strategic waterway.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu was also asked about a New York Times report that he had told<\/a> a gathering of top US officials in the White House situation room on February 11 that a joint Israeli-American operation could collapse the Islamic Republic.<\/p>\n

The premier called that \u201cfalse,\u201d but went on to say that he merely didn\u2019t note that outcome as definitive.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tUS President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida, December 29, 2025. (Alex Brandon\/AP)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe both agreed that there was uncertainty and risk involved,\u201d Netanyahu said, quoting US President Donald Trump as having said that there was danger in action, but bigger danger in not acting.<\/p>\n

Asked if it is possible to topple the Iranian regime, Netanyahu said, \u201cI think that you can\u2019t predict when that happens. Is it possible? Yes. Is it guaranteed? No. But I can tell you it\u2019s like bankruptcy, you know? It\u2026 proceeds gradually and then it falls.\u201d<\/p>\n

The premier added that he doesn\u2019t know when or if the Iranian regime will fall, but said that if that happens, it would mean the end of its network of proxies, including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis, since it is the \u201cscaffolding\u201d keeping them afloat.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tA tanker, left, and a car carrier are anchored at sea in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from the coast near Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, May 1, 2026. (AP\/Fatima Shbair)<\/p>\n

The prime minister also said he believes Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is alive, despite the fact that he has not been seen or heard publicly since he was appointed to succeed his slain father in early March.<\/p>\n

Asked for his opinion about the physical condition and operational influence of the younger Khamenei, Netanyahu said, \u201cI think he is alive. What his condition is, it\u2019s hard to say, you know? He\u2019s holed up in some bunker or in some secret place.\u201d<\/p>\n

The premier said Mojtaba is \u201ctrying to exert his authority,\u201d but assessed this authority to be less than that wielded by predecessor Ali Khamenei.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tA mourner holds a poster depicting Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, right, the successor to his late father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, left, as supreme leader, during the funeral procession for senior Iranian military officials and civilians killed during the U.S.-Israel campaign in Tehran, Iran, March 11, 2026. (AP\/Vahid Salemi)<\/p>\n

Multiple reports have suggested that the Iranian leader was seriously injured in an Israeli strike on the opening day of the war.<\/p>\n

\u2018We\u2019ve not done well on the propaganda war\u2019<\/p>\n

Netanyahu also said he intends to wean Israel off all US military aid within a decade, repeating remarks he made<\/a> to The Economist earlier this year.<\/p>\n

When asked by CBS about polls showing rapidly collapsing support for Israel among Americans, particularly the younger generations, since the war in Gaza began, Netanyahu attributed it to social media and to effective disinformation campaigns waged by states he does not name.<\/p>\n

The premier touted the many steps he said Israel has taken to get civilians in Gaza and Lebanon out of harm\u2019s way during the war, but said campaigns against the Jewish state on social media have been very effective.<\/p>\n

Sixty percent of US adults have an unfavorable view of Israel, and 59% have little or no confidence in Netanyahu to do the right thing regarding world affairs, according to a Pew survey conducted in March. Both percentages were up seven percentage points from a year earlier.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tAnti-Israel protesters demonstrate near a memorial for the one-year anniversary of the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught, on October 7, 2024, in New York City. (Alex Kent \/ GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA \/ Getty Images via AFP)<\/p>\n

Netanyahu said deteriorating support for Israel in the United States \u201ccorrelates almost 100% with the geometric rise of social media,\u201d and that several countries, which he did not identify, have \u201cbasically manipulated\u201d social media in a way that \u201churt us badly,\u201d though he said he personally does not believe in censorship of social networks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael is besieged on the media front, on the propaganda front, and we\u2019ve not done well on the propaganda war,\u201d he conceded. \u201cWe have to fight back against these lies, this propaganda, with the only weapon we have. It\u2019s the truth. I\u2019m trying to do that now and will try to do that in a much greater effort because we\u2019ve left the battlefield to our enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The premier downplayed a series<\/a> of recent documented anti-Christian incidents that caused international outcries as isolated \u201caberrations\u201d whose perpetrators have been punished, or in which the error has been rectified, touting Israel\u2019s shared values and history with Christians and Christianity.<\/p>\n

The remarks on Christianity were also in a section of the interview that wasn\u2019t aired and only appeared in CBS\u2019s full transcript<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu was asked about the recent incidents that damaged Israel\u2019s relations with Christians \u2014 including Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem being initially denied access<\/a> to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Easter amid Iran war restrictions, an IDF soldier smashing a Jesus statue<\/a> in Lebanon, and an attack on a nun<\/a> in Jerusalem\u2019s Old City \u2014 and that some see as a \u201ctrend line of hostility to Christians.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tAn IDF soldier smashes a statue of Jesus in southern Lebanon, in an image uploaded to social media on April 19, 2026. (X\/used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)<\/p>\n

Netanyahu replied by calling that \u201cone of those incredible fabrications,\u201d saying Israel is the only place in the region where Christians have \u201cthrived,\u201d while in neighboring Arab countries \u201cthey\u2019ve been squished, squashed, sometimes massacred.\u201d<\/p>\n

He claimed that while the West Bank Palestinian city of Bethlehem, Jesus\u2019s birthplace, was 80% Christian when Israel controlled it, since it has been controlled by the Palestinian Authority, it has become \u201c20% Christian, 80% Muslim.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if the series of incidents is all anomalies, the prime minister said: \u201cThese are not only anomalies. These are things that go contrary to our ethos, to our respect for Christianity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut when that happens, okay, that guy, that soldier who did that, who, you know, violated \u2014 not violated but tore down a crucifix, he\u2019s in jail<\/a>. That guy who attacked a nun, he\u2019s on trial<\/a>,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tA man kicks a nun in the Old City of Jerusalem on April 28, 2026. (Screenshot\/Israel Police)<\/p>\n

Regarding Pizzaballa, who was denied entry amid sweeping closures of Jerusalem\u2019s holy sites due to gathering limits during the war with Iran, Netanyahu claimed he \u201cintervened immediately and opened the doors,\u201d even though it took four days from the time the cardinal was blocked from reaching the church for Palm Sunday Mass until he was allowed<\/a> to hold a limited prayer there.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael is the one country in the Middle East that protects Christians, that values Christians, that embraces Christianity. We have common roots. We appreciate them. There\u2019s an attempt not only to falsify our common history but also to falsify current events, to seize on these, you know, these aberrations, and pretend that this is Israeli policy. That\u2019s ridiculous,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t