Netanyahu has sidestepped accountability for Hamas attack, instead taking aim at his security chiefs

A growing list of Israeli officials have accepted responsibility for failing to prevent Hamas' brutal attack on Israeli communities during the Oct. 7 incursion that triggered the current Israel-Hamas war. Conspicuously absent from that roll call is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Following the horrific assault, which saw the deadliest day for Israelis since the country was established 75 years ago, Netanyahu has repeatedly sidestepped accountability. He has instead blamed others, in what critics say shows a leader thinking more about his own political survival than soothing and steering a traumatized nation.

“Netanyahu is fighting a personal battle of survival and that takes precedence over fighting Israel's war against Hamas,” said Netanyahu biographer and journalist Anshel Pfeffer. “As part of that battle, he's prepared to malign those who are now commanding Israel's army and intelligence services.”

When hundreds of Hamas militants broke down Israel's seemingly impenetrable security systems and stormed through its communities, Israel's vaunted security forces were caught off guard. Some 1,400 people were killed and it took hours for soldiers to arrive. The war has killed more than 9,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials, and ravaged many parts of the Gaza Strip.