WASHINGTON: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview released Thursday that he “regrets” Hamas’s October 7 attack, but stopped short of taking clear responsibility.
Netanyahu, who has refused to apologize for the security failures in the worst attack in Israeli history and has focused solely on destroying Hamas, was asked in an interview with Time magazine whether he would apologize.
“Shall I apologize?” he reportedly replied.
“Of course, of course. I’m so sorry that this happened. And I always look back and say, ‘Could we have done something to prevent it?’” he said.
The right-wing leader is Israel's longest-serving prime minister and has long marketed himself as a staunch defender of Israel's security.
Immediately after the October 7 attacks, Netanyahu posted on social media that intelligence agencies had not anticipated Hamas's operation and had failed to warn him.
After scores of Israelis accused him of shifting blame and threatening national unity, he deleted the post and apologized.
In an interview with TIME, Netanyahu was asked what message he would send to the political rival who has presided over the country's worst security failures.
Netanyahu responded that it depended on whether the leader could lead Israel “to victory.”
“Can they guarantee that the post-war situation will be one of peace and security? If the answer is yes, they should remain in power.”
Hamas carried out the deadliest attack in Israeli history on October 7, killing 1,198 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Palestinian militants have taken 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still being held in Gaza, while the Israeli military says 39 of them have been killed.
At least 39,677 people have been killed in Israel's retaliatory military operation in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory of Gaza, but it does not disclose the number of civilians or militants killed.
