In the lawsuit, Bar accuses Netanyahu of "lying to cover himself" and says the prime minister slandered him by blaming him for "criminal failures" during the attack. Bar states in the filing that he telephoned Netanyahu's military secretary as soon as signs of a possible attack emerged, but did not have the prime minister's direct number.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said he was not alerted by Bar on the morning of the assault, insisting he could have stopped the attack if he had been woken up. On Wednesday, Netanyahu responded through his Likud party: "Ronen, are you serious?" and added, "You had my number on the red line and could have called me immediately, as all security chiefs do."
The lawsuit claims Netanyahu's accusations were made "with the aim of diverting the debate from his own responsibility" and that his policies over several years had increased the dangers from terrorist organisations in Gaza. Bar resigned as Shin Bet chief in June 2025 amid recriminations over the attack, while maintaining he had informed Netanyahu of the threat in advance.
Separately, Netanyahu's former military secretary Avi Gil has told Israel's Channel 12 that the prime minister's office "falsified records related to October 7, 2023," including altering the recorded time of a key phone call. Gil said a stenographer was instructed to change the time of a four-minute call from 6:40am to 6:29am.