Netanyahu: ‘Everybody bears some responsibility’ for Oct. 7, ‘from the prime minister down’

Netanyahu said defense and intelligence officials had repeatedly assured him before the attack that Hamas was “deterred.”

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in remarks published in May 2026 that responsibility for the October 7, 2023, security failures extends across Israel’s political, military, and security leadership, while also defending his handling of the war that followed.

In an interview with “60 Minutes” on CBS, Netanyahu acknowledged partial responsibility for the failures leading up to the Hamas attack.

“Everybody bears some responsibility. Yeah, from the top, from the prime minister down,” Netanyahu said in the transcript published by CBS.

At the same time, Netanyahu said defense and intelligence officials had repeatedly assured him before the attack that Hamas was “deterred.”

During the interview, Netanyahu was asked how it was that senior officials responsible for security during the attack had resigned or been dismissed while he remained in office.

According to the transcript, Netanyahu responded that some officials left because their terms had ended, while others “claimed they took responsibility.”

“But it’s not clear what–what does that mean, you know? What is their responsibility?” Netanyahu said in remarks that appeared in an off-mic section of the interview that was not broadcast but appeared in CBS’s published transcript.

Netanyahu also argued that his primary responsibility has been Israel’s conduct since the Oct. 7 attack rather than only the failures preceding it.

“But I think the real issue is, okay, that’s up to Oct. 7. What about since Oct. 7?” he said. “[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.”

In February 2026, Netanyahu released a 55-page document addressing the events surrounding the attack.

According to the material, the document focused on the conduct of the military and previous governments rather than accepting sole responsibility.

The material also stated that Netanyahu has continued rejecting calls for an independent state commission of inquiry, instead supporting a politically appointed investigative body.