It's clear Netanyahu, entire Israeli government 'responsible' for Hamas onslaught, says Likud minister

Likud leader and Israel’s culture and sports minister Miki Zohar has held Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu-led Israeli government and the entire government of the country responsible for the Hamas’ onslaught on October 7. “It is clear to me that Netanyahu and the entire government of Israel, and those who this happened on their watch, are responsible. That’s also clear to the prime minister,” Zohar told Army Radio. Zohar, however, said “now is not the time to investigate.” “We can’t deal now with questions of guilt because we are in a war. I don’t want to investigate now what happened in the intelligence branch, or the operational branch, or on the political level. There will be an independent state commission of inquiry,” he said. So far, Netanyahu has refused to directly take responsibility on the Hamas’ assualt earlier this month. As many as 80 per cent of Israelis believe that Netanyahu should publicly accept responsbility for the staggering failures that led to Hamas’ devastating onslaught. These included 69 per cent of those who voted for the Israeli PM’s Likud party in last year’s election. However, in his televised address on Wednesday night, Netanyahu said “everyone will have to give answers,” including himself, on the failures that led to Hamas’ bloody invasion on October 7. More than 1,400 people were killed in the unprecedented attacks on Israel by Hamas on October 7. Hamas has held more than 220 people hostage in Gaza. According to authorities in Gaza, around 6,500 people have been killed in retaliatory strikes by Israel. With inputs from agencies