Netanyahu Ex-Aide Says PMO Falsified Oct. 7 Call Records
(MENAFN) A former military secretary to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused the Prime Minister’s Office of doctoring records tied to Oct. 7, 2023, including changing the logged time of a pivotal phone call, a major Israeli daily’s news website reported Thursday. The outlet cited an interview broadcast on an Israeli television channel.
Avi Gil, 54, who held the post from July 2021 to May 2024, said he decided to go public after recent weeks pushed him to speak out. “I will give everything I know, leave my impressions and let them understand the reality,” Gil said. “The past few weeks have set me on a different path and signaled to me that I need to come out and tell the truth.”
Alleged order to alter call time
Gil told the television channel that in January 2024, a stenographer in the Prime Minister’s Office came to him with a claim. She said Netanyahu’s chief of staff had told her to change the time of a four-minute call from 6.40 am (0340GMT) local time to 6.29 am (0329 GMT).
“She told me, ‘I’m not allowed to change it. The computer shows and says 6:40 to 6:44,’” Gil said, accusing the head of Netanyahu’s office of manipulating telephone records. “Those are facts, and there is no dispute about them,” he added.
According to the newspaper, Gil immediately recorded the stenographer’s account in a handwritten note to the attorney general. He also recommended that any future commission of inquiry secure the original recordings instead of relying only on transcripts.
“This is changing a transcript, changing the truth,” he said. “Factually, there was an instruction to change the time of a call.”
Pre-Oct. 7 warnings
Gil also said Israeli security officials repeatedly urged targeted military operations in the Gaza Strip before Oct. 7, but the political leadership turned them down. “There were recommendations from time to time to carry out targeted operations in Gaza. Those recommendations were not accepted,” he said.
He confirmed an earlier report by the same newspaper that then-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar warned Netanyahu in July 2023 that Israel faced the danger of war. According to that report, Bar told the prime minister, “I am giving you a warning of war today. I cannot give you an exact day and hour, but this is the warning,”
Gil stressed that the warning did not point specifically to an imminent attack from Gaza. “Was there a specific, focused warning from Gaza? Absolutely not,” he said.
He also dismissed claims that intelligence received the night before should ordinarily have prompted staff to wake Netanyahu at once. The information, he said, repeatedly characterized the situation as “routine” and showed no sign of immediate urgency.
Gil said he could not confirm reports that Netanyahu was warned by Egypt or the United Arab Emirates before Oct. 7. He noted that he was out of the office on the dates linked to the reported Emirati contact.
Netanyahu responds
Netanyahu denied the accusations and blamed Gil for the failures surrounding Oct. 7. The dispute lands as campaigning heats up ahead of Israel’s Oct. 27 general election.
Background
More than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 175,000 injured in Israel’s war in Gaza since October 2023, according to Palestinian figures. The enclave has also suffered the destruction of 90% of its infrastructure.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November 2024 on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.
Avi Gil, 54, who held the post from July 2021 to May 2024, said he decided to go public after recent weeks pushed him to speak out. “I will give everything I know, leave my impressions and let them understand the reality,” Gil said. “The past few weeks have set me on a different path and signaled to me that I need to come out and tell the truth.”
Alleged order to alter call time
Gil told the television channel that in January 2024, a stenographer in the Prime Minister’s Office came to him with a claim. She said Netanyahu’s chief of staff had told her to change the time of a four-minute call from 6.40 am (0340GMT) local time to 6.29 am (0329 GMT).
“She told me, ‘I’m not allowed to change it. The computer shows and says 6:40 to 6:44,’” Gil said, accusing the head of Netanyahu’s office of manipulating telephone records. “Those are facts, and there is no dispute about them,” he added.
According to the newspaper, Gil immediately recorded the stenographer’s account in a handwritten note to the attorney general. He also recommended that any future commission of inquiry secure the original recordings instead of relying only on transcripts.
“This is changing a transcript, changing the truth,” he said. “Factually, there was an instruction to change the time of a call.”
Pre-Oct. 7 warnings
Gil also said Israeli security officials repeatedly urged targeted military operations in the Gaza Strip before Oct. 7, but the political leadership turned them down. “There were recommendations from time to time to carry out targeted operations in Gaza. Those recommendations were not accepted,” he said.
He confirmed an earlier report by the same newspaper that then-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar warned Netanyahu in July 2023 that Israel faced the danger of war. According to that report, Bar told the prime minister, “I am giving you a warning of war today. I cannot give you an exact day and hour, but this is the warning,”
Gil stressed that the warning did not point specifically to an imminent attack from Gaza. “Was there a specific, focused warning from Gaza? Absolutely not,” he said.
He also dismissed claims that intelligence received the night before should ordinarily have prompted staff to wake Netanyahu at once. The information, he said, repeatedly characterized the situation as “routine” and showed no sign of immediate urgency.
Gil said he could not confirm reports that Netanyahu was warned by Egypt or the United Arab Emirates before Oct. 7. He noted that he was out of the office on the dates linked to the reported Emirati contact.
Netanyahu responds
Netanyahu denied the accusations and blamed Gil for the failures surrounding Oct. 7. The dispute lands as campaigning heats up ahead of Israel’s Oct. 27 general election.
Background
More than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 175,000 injured in Israel’s war in Gaza since October 2023, according to Palestinian figures. The enclave has also suffered the destruction of 90% of its infrastructure.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November 2024 on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.
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