{"id":50109,"date":"2026-09-10T12:51:38","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T19:51:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=50109"},"modified":"2026-09-10T12:51:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T19:51:39","slug":"as-netanyahu-threatens-libel-suit-haaretz-stands-by-its-reporting-on-10-7-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/09\/10\/as-netanyahu-threatens-libel-suit-haaretz-stands-by-its-reporting-on-10-7-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"As Netanyahu Threatens Libel Suit, Haaretz \u2018Stands By Its Reporting\u2019 on 10\/7 Attack"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Benjamin<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a news conference in Jerusalem on June 15, 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Photo by Ronen Zvulun\/pool\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs always when a story really hits home, Netanyahu threatens to sue,\u201d said one researcher.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Julia Conley<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sep 09, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz did not appear alarmed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s threat on Wednesday to sue the outlet over its new reporting that Netanyahu was explicitly warned<\/a> about the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack that killed more than 1,200 Israelis and led to the Israel Defense Forces<\/a>\u2019 destruction of Gaza<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Netanyahu sent a \u201cwarning letter\u201d saying he would file a libel lawsuit against Haaretz and journalists <\/strong>Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval over their Tuesday report, the newspaper said<\/a> simply in a post on social media<\/a>, \u201cHaaretz stands by its reporting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"ISRAEL-US-IRAN-WAR-NETANYAHU\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Bombshell\u2019 Report Says UAE Explicitly Warned Netanyahu of October 7 Attack<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"IDF<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Horrific\u2019: Masked Israeli Settlers Attack, Injure Palestinian Woman and NBC Crew<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The newspaper based its reporting on accounts from three senior foreign sources, reporting that in September 2023, now-deceased Hamas<\/a> leader Yahya Sinwar had told an intermediary trusted by both Hamas and Israeli intelligence agencies that an \u201cearthquake<\/a>\u201d would be coming to Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The warning reportedly came after Sinwar had grown frustrated with deadlocked talks over an exchange of Israeli and Palestinian prisoners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sinwar told the intermediary to convey a message to the United Arab Emirates<\/a>, with whom Netanyahu had developed close ties, \u201cthat I am preparing the mother of all surprises. A terrifying operation. Something extraordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed then gave a warning to Netanyahu in a 45-minute phone call weeks before the attack, according to Haaretz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Netanyahu lashed out at the newspaper in a social media post<\/a>, saying the reporters \u201cfabricated a false story against the prime minister that never happened and was never created.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Prime Minister\u2019s Office, the National Security Council, and the military secretary meticulously reviewed the prime minister\u2019s call log for those days\u2014and found no trace of it whatsoever,\u201d said Netanyahu, who is behind his top opponent, former military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, in polls ahead of legislative elections set for October 27.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Netanyahu\u2019s official social media account also confirmed he had instructed his lawyers to file the libel lawsuit. He blamed security officials for failing to alert him to the October 7 attack early enough after it had begun, repeating a recent claim that they feared he would launch an aggressive response to the attack and set off a war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf, instead of fearing a miscalculation, they had instructed the IDF, the Shin Bet, and the standby units to preempt the blow, and if they had updated Prime Minister Netanyahu in time, the terrible massacre could have been prevented,\u201d said Netanyahu\u2019s official account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Netanyahu has been attempting to account for his actions on October 7 recently, releasing<\/a> his full schedule from the day of the attacks last week. The log showed he did not speak to IDF officials until several hours after the attack began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researcher Shaiel Ben-Ephraim compared Netanyahu\u2019s threat to sue Haaretz to his angry response earlier this year to a report by New York Times<\/a> columnist Nicholas Kristof, which included testimony from 14 Palestinians<\/a> who said they had been sexually assaulted in Israeli prisons<\/a> or during attacks by the IDF or Israeli settlers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Netanyahu claimed<\/a> the Times\u2019 reporting was \u201cblood libel\u201d as he threatened to take legal action in May. Thus far, he has not followed through on the threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis will likely end up just like the time he threatened to sue The New York Times,\u201d\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0Ben-Ephraim, \u201cand didn\u2019t because every word was true.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

X post: https:\/\/x.com\/academic_la\/status\/2097607303658901540?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2097607303658901540%7Ctwgr%5E365d1c540b6d20f72f6c0bbcc7bfa229876985ec%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fhaaretz-netanyahu<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday, four Israeli opposition leaders called<\/a> for an independent commission to investigate the October 7 attacks, citing a \u201cseries\u201d of revelations about Netanyahu\u2019s actions and reported inaction ahead of the assault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNetanyahu and his partners in the October 7 government are unfit to continue in office,\u201d they wrote. \u201cWe will work in coordination and with the required responsibility to prevent them from leading to another disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prime minister has long resisted calls for an independent investigation, agreeing earlier this year only to a\u00a0proposal<\/a>\u00a0in which half of the commission\u2019s members would be selected by Netanyahu\u2019s own government, in violation of Israeli law\u2014a suggestion that one opposition leader, Yair Lapid, called a \u201cshameful farce\u201d that was meant to \u201chelp the prime minister duck responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julia Conley<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julia Conley is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a news conference in Jerusalem on June 15, 2026.  (Photo by Ronen Zvulun\/pool\/AFP via Getty Images) \u201cAs always when a story really hits home, Netanyahu threatens to sue,\u201d said one researcher. Julia Conley Sep 09, 2026 (CommonDreams.org) The Israeli newspaper Haaretz did not appear… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2211],"tags":[1185],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50109"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50109"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50110,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50109\/revisions\/50110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}