Israel's domestic intelligence chief takes blame for too-small response to Hamas attack

The head of Israel's domestic intelligence agency said Monday that he personally took responsibility for the lackluster defense that allowed Hamas to attack the country.

In a letter obtained by The Times of Israel, Ronen Bar wrote to members of the agency that "despite a series of actions we carried out, unfortunately on Saturday we were unable to generate a sufficient warning that would allow the attack to be thwarted." Bar serves as the chief of Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service and one of the country's primary intelligence agencies alongside foreign intelligence service Mossad.

"As the one who heads the organization, the responsibility for this is mine," Bar added, though he stressed that he did not place the blame on himself for the overall war that has broken out. "There will be time for investigations. Now we are fighting."

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While Israel's combined intelligence community is widely considered among the world's best, it has received global scrutiny for not anticipating the attack by Hamas, the Palestinian-led terrorist organization controlling the Gaza Strip. Hours before the initial Hamas attack on Oct. 7, Israeli defense officials noticed activity building up along Gaza's southern border, but The Times of Israel reported that these signs "were largely dismissed."

However, sources told the outlet that Bar went to the Shin Bet headquarters to try and get ahead of what was anticipated to be "a small-scale attack." Arriving several hours before the violence began, Bar ordered the dispatching of a small team to the Gaza border. But what occurred was not a small attack, as hundreds of Hamas fighters entered Israel and launched a major invasion. 

The nation's military has seemingly corroborated Shin Bet's response, with three Israeli officials previously telling Axios that the agency "decided not to put military forces on the borders of [Gaza]" despite signs of a possible attack.