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Shayna Abramson

Is Bibi Guilty?

What do people mean when they say Bibi is guilty? After all, it’s Hamas who carried out the October 7th attack!

I hear this often, and think there is a misunderstanding. People who say that Bibi is guilty are not denying that ultimate guilt lies with Hamas. But they believe that, as head of state, Bibi bears ultimate responsibility for what happens to the country under his watch -even if he is not the direct cause of the catastrophe.

Here are a few different things people mean when they say that Bibi is guilty:

  1. Bibi ensured that funding went to Hamas, via Qatar. Obviously, some of this funding allowed Hamas to grow stronger and to be in a financial position to have the resources necessary to carry out the October 7th attack. In addition to strengthening Hamas financially, Bibi also strengthened Hamas politically by weakening its main political opponent, the Palestinian Authority.
  2. There were clear security and military lapses in the leadup to October 7th and obviously some responsibility goes to those establishments. Nevertheless, as Prime Minister, who is ultimately in charge of defense policy and has final say over certain sensitive security matters, Bibi also had a lot of say in the governmental and military policies in the leadup to and aftermath of October 7th. As such, some of these failures may be lain at his feet as well. How much did Bibi know about Hamas’s increasing military strength or their plans to attack? Avigdor Liberman claims that in his time as defense minister he urged the government, including the PM, to be ready for an October 7th like scenario, but was dismissed. Nobody thinks that the PM literally knew that October 7th was going to happen and didn’t prevent it, but the question is how many warning signs he was given about Hamas planning an attack that he chose to ignore, because he didn’t believe them or because they didn’t suit his worldview or policy? Had he listened to those warning signs, might October 7th have played out very differently, or not at all?
  3.  Bibi was warned by security experts that judicial overhaul was causing divisiveness that would be used by our enemies, who would decide to attack us in our moment of weakness. He continued to pursue the judicial overhaul despite those warnings. There is evidence that the divisiveness caused by judicial overhaul was a factor in Hamas’s decision to carry out the attack on that day.
  4. Bibi is not responsible for October 7th. However, he is responsible for the mishandling of October 7th and its aftermath, which has compounded tragedy upon tragedy.
  5. Bibi is not responsible for the fact that Israelis were taken hostage on October 7th. Hamas is responsible for that. However, Bibi has repeatedly torpedoes hostage release negotiations with Hamas, therefore, he bears some responsibility for the fact that the hostages are still being held hostage, over a year later. Security officials and members of Bibi’s negotiating team have all reported Bibi repeatedly changing the terms of deal proposals when a deal seemed close, proposing unrealistic conditions and a limited scope of freedom for negotiators, and making public pronouncements that damaged talks, as part of the tactics he used repeatedly in order to avoid a deal.

When people say that Bibi is guilty, these are the 5 things that they are generally referring to. Nobody saying this denies that Hamas is guilty of the October 7th attack.

About the Author
Rabbi Shayna Abramson is a graduate of Beit Midrash Har'el in Jerusalem. She holds M.A.s in Jewish Education and Political Science from Hebrew University, and is currently pursuing a PHD in Gender Studies at Bar Ilan University, with a focus on gender and halacha. A native Manhattanite, she currently resides in Jerusalem with her family.
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