The subject of Eisenkot\u2019s October 7 post on X<\/a> \u2013 and the main thrust of his campaign \u2013 is his assertion that the prime minister had been warned about a potential attack and failed to protect his people. He says his first act if elected will be to launch an inquiry and has challenged Netanyahu to a televised debate in which October 7 will be the main topic of discussion.<\/p>\n For his part, Netanyahu\u2019s post on X<\/a> sought to deflect any blame for October 7 to Shin Bet, Israel\u2019s domestic intelligence agency. Far from being culpable for the attack, the statement from his Likud party said it was Netanyahu who had led the fightback and protected \u2013 was still protecting \u2013 Israel from its bitter enemies in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.<\/p>\n When Israelis go to the polls on October 27, it will be the first national election since the attacks and the subsequent war in Gaza. According to the Israeli Democracy Institute<\/a>, 68% of Israeli Jews say October 7 is a central factor in deciding who to vote for. <\/p>\n So Netanyahu, campaigning for his fourth term in office, and the opponents hoping to oust him, are trying to exploit the events of October 7 to score points in what is proving to be a very tight race<\/a>.<\/p>\n Netanyahu\u2019s Likud party is currently projected to have 23 seats, putting him a whisker in front of his main challenger, former military commander Gadi Eisenkot, whose Yashar party is polling at 22 seats. Together, the party led by the former prime minister Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, also an ex-PM, is on 11 seats and the Democrats are on nine seats. <\/p>\n Apart from the two leading parties, the list is extremely tight and the outcome will depend on which of the two leaders can cobble together a governing coalition.<\/p>\n Opinion polls<\/a> have found that the high cost of living, accountability for October 7 and security and foreign policy are the issues people are most concerned about. A recent study<\/a> found that housing costs and food prices have overtaken<\/a> some of the wealthiest countries in Europe.<\/p>\n But it is accountability and security that look to be the issues the politicians are set to fight on before the October 27 poll.<\/p>\n There has been a series of allegations that Netanyahu received prior warning about a serious threat from Hamas. The Wall Street Journal<\/a> reported on September 28 that Egypt\u2019s intelligence chief warned the prime minister of a threat several times, even visiting him 11 days before the attack.<\/p>\n The approach of Likud has been to deflect the blame onto intelligence and security chiefs for failing to alert the prime minister to the threat from Hamas. Yoav Gallant, formerly Netanyahu\u2019s defence minister, has claimed that Hamas warned Shin Bet about the attack. <\/p>\n This has spiralled into a \u201cbetrayal from within\u201d theory \u2013 the idea that somebody inside Israel knew what was coming and deliberately kept Netanyahu in the dark. The prime minister\u2019s wife, Sara Netanyahu, has added fuel to this conspiracy by insinuating in a televised interview<\/a> that Yair Golan, leader of the opposition Democrats party and a former deputy IDF chief of staff, may have had advance knowledge of the attack. <\/p>\n This conspiracy theory has gained some traction on the Israeli right. According to a poll published<\/a> in the daily newspaper Maariv, 40% of respondents believe there was \u201cbetrayal from within\u201d. <\/p>\n Netanyahu rejects the treason argument<\/a>, insisting that October 7 was a massive intelligence and operational failure by Israel\u2019s security agencies. His October 7 post on X<\/a> doubled down on this message, insisting that had he been informed immediately of the attack, he could have been \u201cupdated in real time \u2014 everything would have looked different\u201d.<\/p>\n The post, which quoted his Likud party, said the allegations against him were the work of political enemies who were \u201cbroadcasting false political propaganda against Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Likud all day long, with the aim of toppling right-wing rule and paving the way for a left-wing government that will establish a Palestinian state\u201d.<\/p>\n Eisenkot is hardly a left-winger. He is staunchly opposed to a two-state solution<\/a>. Yet Netanyahu\u2019s campaign released an AI_generated video<\/a> depicting Eisenkot running past a young man in a shirt reading \u201cIsrael unity,\u201d to instead embrace Mansour Abbas, leader of the Arab Ra\u2019am party. The caption read: \u201cEisenkot has no government without Yair Golan and the Arab parties.\u201d Reports said the young man was intended to represent Eisenkot\u2019s son Gal, who was killed fighting in Gaza.<\/p>\n The video was shared on Netanyahu\u2019s social media account, but an Israeli official later denied the prime minister had seen it.<\/p>\n\u2018Betrayal from within\u2019?<\/h2>\n
Politics of tragedy<\/h2>\n
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\n Facebook via Times of Israel<\/span><\/span>
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