Netanyahu's Oct. 7 phone call to IDF chief took place three hours after attack began

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not speak with then-IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi until 9:45 a.m. on October 7, three hours after Hamas's attacks began, according to KAN News and The Jerusalem Post. Netanyahu received two calls about the attack at 6:29 a.m. and 6:40 a.m. but did not request to speak with Halevi. His military secretary, Maj.-Gen. Avi Gil, chose not to wake him earlier, believing no large-scale attack was imminent. Netanyahu later claimed, "If they had woken me, everything would have looked different," suggesting he would have activated the air force and prevented the massacre. This information follows comments by Sara Netanyahu alleging that Democrats party chief Yair Golan had prior knowledge of the attack.