Israel is a beloved country, but its politics can be strange.

On the eve of a hotly contested election, some of its former security chiefs have gone public accusing Prime Minister Netanyahu of not acting on their warnings about Oct. 7, 2023.

Imagine that, after Sept. 11, the FBI and CIA directors told reporters they had warned President George W. Bush that a terrorist cell on American soil was preparing to hijack passenger planes.

But the president had done nothing and the directors, in turn, did nothing.

No alert to airlines, no heads up to the local police, no messages to the Pentagon, nothing.

Did Bush tell them, "Don’t tell anyone about the warnings!"?

None of this did happen relating to 9/11, but imagine a similar scenario that shows how claims made by former Israeli officials are farcical, hypocritical and highly political.

These alleged "warnings" made to Netanyahu would have raised an obvious question: Why did you the security chiefs, knowing these attacks were going to happen, do nothing?

For example, Ronen Bar, then-director of Israel's military intelligence Shin Bet, says he warned Netanyahu of a "strategic warning of war."

Having delivered this warning, what steps did Bar take to prevent the attack?

We are aware of no steps.

Senior security officials apparently believe that saying they warned the prime minister is enough to excuse their own failures.

The latest controversy revolves around a book by two left-wing journalists, Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval.

They allege that United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed warned Netanyahu, just days before the Oct. 7 massacre, that Hamas was preparing an attack.

The original source of the warning, according to their account, was Yahya Sinwar himself.

Sinwar was a senior Hamas leader in Gaza and one of the principal architects of Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

Despite the dubious sourcing, the liberal media frenzy about the claims was immediate and predictable. The media spin went like this: Netanyahu had failed to protect Israel. Netanyahu must go. Netanyahu was to blame.

But here are the facts:

Netanyahu denies that he received any warning from any security chief, the IDF or any foreign government about an impending Hamas attack.

And a call between national leaders should leave a record, and whether it happened is a question that ought to be settled by evidence.

But assume, for the moment, that the account is true.

Eldar and Yuval claim that an associate of Sinwar, a Palestinian who played the role of intermediary between Hamas and Israeli’s Shin Bet, warned the intelligence agency of a vague threat of a "surprise"attack on Israel weeks before Oct. 7.

So the warning described was general in nature, of a kind Israel's leaders routinely receive — not an explicit warning of the Oct. 7 attack.

There is a more revealing part of the story:

The Palestinian claimed to convey the warning to Ronen Bar, then director of Shin Bet at the time of the massacre. Bar acknowledges receiving it on September 15, three weeks before the attack.

What did Bar do about it?

Apparently, a week later, security officials met to consider that intelligence and other developments.

The security agencies advised Netanyahu against taking military action in Gaza.

Their recommendation was to allow more money to reach Hamas and more workers from Gaza to enter Israel.

How does that advice square with the claim that they had received a grave warning of impending war?

No doubt, as a longtime prime minister, Netanyahu bears a share of responsibility for the mistakes that led to Oct. 7.

But allegations he recklessly ignored multiple and specific warnings about Oct. 7 are patently false.

And what happened in the hours just before the massacre makes the attempts to shift responsibility to Netanyahu all the more infuriating.

During the night, senior security officials received intelligence suggesting a possible attack from Gaza and reports of suspicious movements.

The signs were serious enough for Ronen Bar to go to his office in the middle of the night.

The military’s chief of staff was awakened and convened a telephone consultation.

Yet neither informed the prime minister.

Nor did they summon Air Force pilots from their homes or warn the soldiers along the border to prepare for an assault. Some 400 Israeli soldiers were left to face 5,000 invading terrorists.

These were officials with hard intelligence, authority, and the means to act.

They understood that something was happening. They held consultations.

Yet they failed to take the basic actions that might have given soldiers and civilians a fighting chance.

These very same officials who now accuse Netanyahu of disregarding warnings.

They ought to be facing a lifetime of disgrace, not lecturing the public about the prime minister’s failures.

They were the ones who failed to act on the warnings in their possession.

None of this places the prime minister beyond criticism.

But it does make the attempt to assign him sole responsibility for Oct. 7 both dishonest and untenable.

Netanyahu has demonstrated what taking responsibility for Oct. 7 means by swiftly learning its lessons and acting on them.

He went after Hamas and is dismantling it.

He killed Sinwar.

He went after Nasrallah and eliminated him.

Together with President Donald Trump, he has dealt a strategic blow to Iran’s nuclear program and its military power.

The Prime Minister is changing the Mideast and standing in the frontline of the global war against jihad.

In 2004, Americans reelected George W. Bush despite the catastrophe that had occurred on his watch.

They judged him on his ability to lead the country in its aftermath, regain the initiative, and fight back.

I believe Israelis will make a similar judgment.

The Likud-led bloc will win a majority of Knesset seats and Netanyahu will become Prime Minister again.

Why?

Because voters understand that Oct. 7 is foremost a failure of Israel's security establishment – and never again can this day of infamy happen.

Srulik Einhorn is the founder of www.perception.media, a strategic adviser and creative director to world leaders.