Israel Security Agency Admits Intelligence Failures, Missed Warnings Before October 7 Attack

Israel’s Shin Bet security service has admitted that it overestimated the threat from Hamas prior to the fatal October 7, 2023, attack, a report released on Tuesday said. The report said that the agency did not pick up on obvious warning signs and wrongly assumed that Hamas was not looking for all-out war.

The findings come just days after the Israeli military released its own report, admitting it had severely underestimated Hamas’ capabilities and failed to protect Israeli civilians.

On October 7, Hamas militants made a massive attack from Gaza, killing 1,200 individuals and capturing over 250 hostages, Israeli estimates show. Israel’s military operation in Gaza has killed over 48,000 since then, Palestinian health officials report. The conflict has destroyed much of the enclave and displaced most of its 2.3 million inhabitants. Approximately 400 Israeli troops have also been killed.

The Shin Bet report admitted that if the agency had behaved differently in the preceding years to the attack and during the night of the attack, “the massacre would have been prevented.” The agency admitted its performance was not up to standards.

The report contributes to mounting demands within Israel’s opposition and civil society for a comprehensive national investigation into the government’s response to the attack, the deadliest Israel has experienced in its modern history. While Israel’s military and intelligence agencies have acknowledged mistakes, the government itself has not yet owned up fully.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a tense session of parliament on Monday, said an investigation would be launched but maintained it had to be “objective and balanced.” Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar has meanwhile resigned, taking the blame for the security failures.