It is Israel’s responsibility to “reveal the full truth” about the intelligence failures of October 7, former Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) director Ronen Bar said at Tel Aviv University’s 2025 Cyber Week conference on Tuesday.
“When we thwart an attack, we can only imagine who was saved,” Bar said.”When we fail to prevent a massacre, we see with our own eyes who was murdered.”
“This happened on our watch. Therefore, it is our responsibility. Let us stop fighting and enter this process together, to learn and to be better,” he said.
Bar also praised what he called the Shin Bet’s courage and core values, noting that the agency had conducted a broad review of its failures on October 7 and established plans to improve going forward.
“This is our Munich,” Bar said. “We will settle accounts with everyone – in Lebanon, Gaza, and worldwide. Two architects remain, and we still need to bring Ran home.”
St.-Sgt.-Maj. Ran Gvili is the last remaining deceased hostage still being held in the Gaza Strip.
In his address, Bar talked about St.-Sgt. Ofir Shoshani, a 20-year-old commander who was killed in her Kfar Aza home during Hamas’s October 7 massacre, and murdered former American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
“I know this is what Ofir and Hersh would have wanted. I know this is what their families want, and what our children expect of us,” he said. “If we do not investigate the entire system, we are condemning ourselves to the next October 7.”
Netanyhu calls for 'unaffiliated' investigation committee into Oct. 7 failures
In his own address on Tuesday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged the need for an unbiased, unaffiliated committee of inquiry to investigate the failings of October 7.
"This failure must be thoroughly investigated; it must examine the political echelon, the military echelon, the security echelon, everyone," Netanyahu said. "And this is only possible if we do this with a broad national examination commission that is not tailored to one side or the other."
"That is what will happen here too; there will be no immunity from criticism here, there will be no closure of one side against another," he concluded. "Everyone will be brought in, and everyone will be questioned, and only in this way will we reach the truth. This is what must be done, and this is what will be done."