The Hamas attack was not the result of ignorance but the result of Israel being distracted by Netanyahu’s attempt to overhaul the Israel Supreme Court.

Netanyahu Allegedly Distracted Israel with Supreme Court Challenge Prior to Hamas Attack, per Intel Chief

October 26, 2023

3 min read

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The attack on Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7 was not the result of ignorance but the result of the country being distracted by Netanyahu’s attempt to overhaul the Israel Supreme Court. This is according to Israel’s former chief of intelligence, who said Netanyahu “got all the warnings” that his actions were distracting the country and government from a potential attack by Hamas.

Yesterday, Politico published a lengthy interview conducted last week with Amos Yadlin, a 71-year-old former Israeli intelligence chief. Yadlin oversaw the abolition of Syria’s burgeoning nuclear program and the repeated attempt to thwart Iran from developing one. After stepping down from his intelligence role, Yadlin served as the head of the Institute for National Security Studies for ten years. He now runs a consulting firm called Mind Israel.

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For the record, Yadlin is on the other side of the political aisle from the right-wing Netanyahu, having been a center-left Labor Party candidate for defense minister in 2015. That is the position from which he is criticizing the Prime Minister.

Here are some of the key insights from Yadlin’s perspective:

The Hamas attack and the fact it was allowed to happen without Israeli knowledge can be attributed to Netanyahu’s challenge against the country’s judiciary. “Netanyahu got all the warnings — from his defense minister, from the chief of staff, from the head of intelligence, from the head of Shin Bet and from independent writers like me, like others — that this is weakening Israel deterrence and endangering Israeli national security.”
The goal of Israel now is not to merely retaliate but to permanently end Hamas, or “erase” them as Netanyahu said.
Israel will launch a global assassination mission against Hamas’ leaders.
Hezbollah is being “very cautious” and will not likely attack Israel, meaning a second front of the war will not develop. But if it does, the U.S. is sure to engage. Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah wants to protect Lebanon’s nuclear program and stay in Iran’s good graces, rather than go on a blind adventurist assault against Israel. The Sunni Palestinians likely did not consult with Hezbollah when they launched the attack.
Hezbollah is only attacking Israel in a “first stage” capacity, namely showing moral support for Hamas and firing rockets less than five kilometers into Israeli territory, but no more. They might enter into a second stage when Israel launches its ground invasion. At that point, a misfire could easily occur, leading to an escalation.

That the Hamas attack fully discredited the hitherto accepted Israeli foreign policy and now the country will embark on a new era of geopolitics. It previously held that Hamas had become moderate and accountable to the people of Gaza.
Hamas should be seen as both a distinct country and an “ISIS-level” terrorist group, “even worse than ISIS.
He hopes a Palestinian authority will be put in place of the Gaza Strip after Hamas is dismantled. He claims Israel has zero desire to rule over the two million people living there.

The case for a two-state solution has been weakened “dramatically” by the Oct. 7 attack.
America does not want a war with Iran if it can help it.
Israel is quite aware of the fact that it has lost support at American colleges, but is glad that Zionism “is again” receiving bipartisan support from U.S. Congress.