Sara Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister's wife, publicly suggested that opposition leader Yair Golan had prior knowledge of the Hamas attack plans on October 7, 2023. The statements were made in an interview with Channel 14, a television station close to the government, during the pre-campaign period for the Israeli legislative elections scheduled for October 27. Sara Netanyahu stated that Golan, a general who leads the left-wing Democrats party, was "dressed and ready" on the morning of the attack, while others, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, knew nothing.
The accusation provoked outrage among Israeli opposition parties. Yair Golan's party strongly condemned the statements through social media, classifying them as "vile and lying" and warning that defaming the "heroism" demonstrated by the general on October 7 "crosses a red line bordering on madness." Gadi Eizenkot, leader of the Yashar party and Netanyahu's main rival, also criticized the "crazy and lying theory of conspiracy and betrayal," accusing figures close to Netanyahu of spreading it to incite hatred and perpetuate the power of the far-right.
According to a poll conducted for Channel 13 in August, 40% of Israelis and 63% of voters in the current government coalition believe that "internal betrayal" was behind the massacre of October 7, 2023. Hamas's attack on Israel killed 1,221 people, the majority civilians, while the Israeli offensive in retaliation in the Gaza Strip caused more than 73,000 deaths, according to data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health considered reliable by the UN. A precarious ceasefire has been in effect since October 2025.
