Israel's ex-Shin Bet chief sues Netanyahu for defamation over October 7 warning

Ronen Bar, who headed Israel's Shin Bet security service until his resignation in June 2025, filed a defamation suit against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, seeking about $968,500 and denying Netanyahu's claim that Bar never warned him on the morning of the Hamas-led attack. Netanyahu says Bar had his direct line and could have called; Bar says he alerted the military secretary instead. The suit lands two weeks before a tight 27 October election in which Netanyahu's record on the attack is a central issue.

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