The report by the Ynet news site said that although Bar appeared certain that Israel was heading for war, he was likely referring either to a war in the north with the Iran-backed Hezbollah, or an escalation in the West Bank leading to a third intifada that could later expand, rather than war with Hamas.
According to the outlet, on July 23, 2023 — a day before the government passed the first major piece of its contentious judicial overhaul legislation — Bar told Netanyahu: “Today I give you a warning of war. We don’t know the day and time in which it will break out, but this is the indication.”
Later that day, with Netanyahu’s blessing, Bar reportedly issued the same warning to Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, who relied on the information to warn of a “violent, multifront confrontation” in a September 20 press conference.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) pushed back on Ynet’s report, saying Netanyahu “did not receive a warning about the war in Gaza — not on the purported date stated in the article and not a moment before 6:29 a.m. on October 7,” when Hamas fired a massive rocket barrage that gave cover to its thousands-strong invasion and onslaught. READ MORE
