Ex-Shin Bet Chief: Bibi Unfit for Office, Leading ‘Israel’ to its Doom

By Staff, Agencies

Former head of the “Israeli” Shin Bet internal security service Nadav Argaman launched a full-scale assault against the entity’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he was directly to blame for October 7, “the worst disaster since the state’s establishment,” and was leading “Israel” to its “doom.”

“Netanyahu is not fit to be prime minister of ‘Israel’,” Argaman said.

Calling for swift elections, Argaman, who led the Shin Bet between 2016 and 2021, mostly under Netanyahu, argued: “Morally he cannot [run for office again]. He is responsible for a monumental failure. He is responsible. There’s no one else… Someone who does not take responsibility for a failure of this magnitude is not fit to be a leader of the Jewish people.”

“Israel”, he said, was “already in the abyss, and if Bibi Netanyahu does not leave office — it will be our doom… I think if the ‘Israel’ doesn’t get its act together and fast, we’ll reach some very, very, very bad places.”

The former security chief also accused Netanyahu of ignoring the Shin Bet’s long-running assessment that Hamas had not been deterred from attacking “Israel”.

“Looking at the bottom line, Bibi’s strategy for ‘Israel’s national’ security over the past decade was an abject failure,” he said.

“This government is ultimately what caused October 7, because the ‘judicial overhaul’ is what led to the weakening, in the eyes of our enemies, of ‘Israel’,” said Argaman.

“Bibi deliberately ripped apart ‘Israeli’ society in order to govern,” concluded Argaman. “In order for us to get out of the abyss there is a single condition, and the condition is that we replace this disastrous government.”

Asked if he thought it was tenable to hold elections during a war, Argaman replied: “I think the war is over. We are fighting, [but] not at war.” He noted that only “small forces” were still stationed in the Gaza Strip. “‘Israel’ should have headed to elections yesterday.”

“Ultimately, the ones who will topple the government are the people,” said Argaman, clarifying that he had no intention to run for office himself. “Otherwise, this war — what he calls a war — will continue” until the next election.

“From the moment he let [Justice Minister] Yariv Levin lead the crazy judicial overhaul, through the delusional ministers he appointed: He took [Itamar] Ben Gvir, took [Bezalel] Smotrich, let one ruin the economy, let the other ruin internal security, and this is what we look like today.” Argaman stated.

“I remember times when Bibi spoke of Ben Gvir and Smotrich with great contempt,” said Argaman. “I see now how he uses Smotrich [as finance minister] even though he knows Smotrich and the economy have nothing to do with each other.”

Argaman, who served in the Shin Bet for over 40 years, told Channel 12 he didn’t think Hamas would have been able to pull off a shock assault in October 2021, when he stepped down as the agency’s chief after five years.

“The system I knew was different,” he said. “Why it happened, how it happened, what enabled all of this to converge on a single moment where they surprise us, they conquer us — and for an extended period…?” he trailed off, signaling he was at a loss.

He also signaled that in his view the greater failure was not the lack of clear intelligence on the Hamas plot, but a failure to act on the signs that were there.

“My assessment is that the problem was not one of intelligence but of threat assessment and risk management. As for intelligence — getting a ‘golden’ report is a lottery. But very often you hold security assessments when there are indicative signs and nothing more…”

He also expressed bewilderment at the military’s failure to respond in a timely manner even after it was caught by surprise.