Oct. 7 families release dossier blaming Netanyahu for massacre

A group of families victimized by the Oct. 7 massacre are accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of indirectly causing the attacks via inadequate use of intelligence and misguided foreign policy.

The families released a 12-page document titled “Case 7/10” that compiles publicly available information on policies and decisions made by the Israeli government that they claim ultimately allowed Hamas to launch its successful attack in 2023. They jointly demanded a state inquiry into the events of the day, a request that has been made by many in Israel but has yet to manifest.

“The evidence in the ‘7/10 File’ shows that the massacre was not an event caused by one decision or one specific failure but the result of years of policy that allowed Hamas to carry out the deadliest terror attack the State of Israel has ever known,” the families said, accusing the government of a cover-up to escape responsibility.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the state memorial for Ze’ev Jabotinsky, at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

The report — released in Hebrew — points to several government decisions as contributing to the massacre: not assassinating senior Hamas leaders such as Yahya Sinwar, not launching preemptive attacks against Hamas, and facilitating the transfer of Qatari funds to Gaza.

Qatar contributed regular financial support to Gaza in the years leading up to Oct. 7, which Netanyahu’s government allowed in order to alleviate humanitarian concerns. Ismail Haniyeh, chairman of the Hamas political bureau until his assassination in 2024, previously called Qatar’s financing “Hamas’s main artery.”

The report also blames Netanyahu’s government for ignoring warnings that an attack was impending — including the recently released report from Haaretz that Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed explicitly cautioned that such an operation was being planned weeks before Oct. 7.

Netanyahu has denied receiving such a warning from the United Arab Emirates.

Shelly Meshel-Yogev, mother of victim Libi Cohen Meguri who was killed at the Nova music festival, said the government’s “failed doctrine put Libi in the ground.”

“Prime minister, you said you would answer the difficult questions at the end of the war, but if you had only listened, my Libi would be beside me,” she said. “Why do I have a grave to cry over instead of a happy daughter?”

“No screenwriter could have written such a cruel reality for a mother who hears her daughter say, ‘Mom, they’re coming to shoot me again.’ I didn’t know longing could hurt this much,” she added.

Natalia Casarotti, whose son Keshet was also killed at the music festival, called on Israeli officials to “do some soul-searching over the money to Hamas, over the decisions, the warnings, the failure, over the 1,200 people murdered.”

She added: “I am begging for a state commission of inquiry.”

A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a rally marking 1,000 days since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

An independent investigation into the events of Oct. 7 has not been conducted despite widespread demand. Traditionally, such an inquiry would be headed by a retired Supreme Court judge. The government has pushed back on this arrangement, however, seeing the judiciary as too powerful and questioning its fitness for the task.

Netanyahu has instead suggested a commission with members selected by his office.

The legacy of Oct. 7 haunts all sides of the campaigns ahead of Israel’s general election next month. Netanyahu has traded accusations with opposition party leader Yair Golan over their respective actions during the event.

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The prime minister’s wife is currently being sued for libel after she accused Golan, who arrived quickly at the scene of the Nova music festival and rendered aid to victims, of keeping her husband in the dark as the massacre began.

Golan has accused Netanyahu of failing to lead during the attacks, criticizing him for being asleep during the first hours of the attack. The prime minister claims officials intentionally refused to wake him up as a political maneuver.

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