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Deputy Minister Almog Cohen says someone should have ‘pulled the PM by the lapel’ before October 7

The Zioneer Intelligence Desk
Deputy Minister Almog Cohen says someone should have ‘pulled the PM by the lapel’ before October 7

Primary source Internal intake · 1 reviewed intake signal · Desk window 22:39

TL;DR

Deputy Minister Almog Cohen said on Channel 14 that if anyone had warned Prime Minister Netanyahu before October 7, he would not have taken the risk. The remarks were made during a televised interview on Monday evening.

01 · THE DISPATCH

Deputy Minister in the Defense Ministry Almog Cohen made pointed remarks in a Monday evening interview on Channel 14 regarding the accountability around the October 7, 2023, attack. Cohen stated: 'If someone had pulled the prime minister by the lapel — he would not have taken the risk.' The comment alludes to criticism that the government's decision-making process before the attack was insufficiently challenged from within. In a separate interview on the same broadcast, Reserve Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi noted that the first time he heard the word 'miscalculation' in IDF service was after October 7, a remark reflecting broader military criticism of pre-war assessments. The desk published earlier interviews on Channel 14 covering the same subject by figures such as Finance Minister Smotrich and Prof. Yuval Elbashan, both of whom discussed personal changes and political reckoning after the massacre.

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This dispatch is published under The Zioneer Intelligence Desk. Raw intake channels remain internal provenance; an external outlet or channel is named only when it materially helps readers evaluate a specific claim.