# October 7 attack

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "October 7 attack," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/october-7-attack/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*John Kiriakou's analysis of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack as a policy failure, not an intelligence one — Israel was warned repeatedly, but Itamar Ben-Gvir diverted response forces to the West Bank, and Kiriakou believes Israel welcomed a pretext for overwhelming retaliation.*

- **Date:** October 7, 2023
- **Kiriakou's framing:** A policy failure, not an intelligence failure

The **October 7 attack** is the October 7, 2023 [Hamas](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/hamas) assault on Israel, which [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) analyzes as a policy failure rather than an intelligence one. He argues it *"did not actually begin on October 7th"* but in 1948, and that decades of settler land seizures, killings and incarceration made an eruption inevitable — *"you can't treat people as subhuman."*[1][2][3] The intelligence, he says, was there: Egypt warned Israel twice and everyone was monitoring the same communications, but [Itamar Ben-Gvir](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/itamar-ben-gvir) insisted any attack would come from the West Bank and had response teams moved there, leaving the Gaza fence breached at some 29 points with responses taking up to two days.[4][5][6] Kiriakou believes Israel was *"asleep at the switch"* and also welcomed a pretext to strike back with overwhelming force, citing a leaked document drafted three days later proposing to expel Gaza's Palestinians.[7][8]

## Historical background

Kiriakou traces the region's administrative history: Gaza was administered by Egypt until 1973 (with the West Bank and East Jerusalem under Jordanian administration), and after the Camp David Accords, Egypt declined to take Gaza back, telling Israel it was "nothing but trouble."[9] He also recalls a YouTube video of Harry Truman describing how both Arabs and Jews came to hate him after he brokered Israeli independence, because he forced them into a negotiated arrangement neither side wanted.[10] On more recent diplomacy, Kiriakou calls the Abraham Accords a great victory for Israel and the Gulf Arab states but "a punch in the throat to the Palestinians," noting that Trump had promised during his campaign to fix the Israeli-Palestinian problem "in one day."[11]

## The warnings and Shin Bet's dismissal

In a separate, more detailed account of the intelligence failure, Kiriakou says Israeli settlers living in the villages along the Gaza border had been deputized by the government to report unusual activity to Shin Bet, and for roughly a year before the attack had reported unusual gunfire and wall-climbing activity near the fence.[12] Shin Bet's response, he says, was to dismiss the warnings, telling the settlers the next fight would be in the West Bank rather than Gaza, and eventually stopped accepting the reports altogether.[13] Kiriakou also says that as soon as hostilities began on October 7 and 8, the first thing to come out of the Israeli government was a request for U.S. help in bombing Iran, on the claim that Iran was behind the attack — a claim U.S. intelligence could not confirm.[14] In at least one other telling, Kiriakou has himself called the failure to shore up the border despite having Hamas's battle plans in hand "a major intelligence failure on the part of the Israelis" — rooted, as elsewhere, in Israeli officials' arrogance and their belief the next attack would come from the West Bank rather than Gaza.[15]

## *"Slipped past the goalie"*

By July 2026 Kiriakou was willing to state a stronger version of the same analysis. Offered his interviewer's framing — that intelligence services find plots constantly, and that letting one succeed for political reasons amounts to saying *"oops, it got past the goalie"* — he accepted it directly: *"Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I think that's exactly what happened."* He liked the phrase enough to say he might steal it.[16][17]

He also supplied the settlers' reports in more detail than before. For two weeks beforehand, Israelis living in the settlements along the Gaza line were reporting to the ministry of national security what they were watching across the fence: Palestinians *"flying kites along the border… releasing balloons… checking wind speeds,"* and the volume of their walkie-talkie chatter. [Itamar Ben-Gvir](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/itamar-ben-gvir)'s answer, as Kiriakou renders it, was *"No, nothing is happening in Gaza. The next attack is going to be in the West Bank"* — and government assets were directed accordingly, against cells in a West Bank where nothing was happening.[16][18]

He sets the six-hour IDF response time against the case then being made for merging American and Israeli military capability, and notes that some of the Israelis killed that day were killed by their own side, in cars, trying to evacuate.[17][19]

## Aftermath: the Washington demonstration

Kiriakou says his friend Brian Becker, founder of the Answer Coalition, organized a demonstration in Washington, D.C. shortly after the October 7 attacks, as Israel began bombing Gaza. Becker's permit application to the Department of the Interior estimated 25,000 to 30,000 attendees; Kiriakou says roughly 300,000 people turned up, with the line stretching from the White House to the Capitol Building.[20]

## "Past the goalie"

Put the proposition that an intelligence service can simply let a known plot succeed for political reasons — described to him as a plot getting "past the goalie" — [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) answered: "Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I think that's exactly what happened."[21][22]

The warnings he cites are civilian. For two weeks beforehand, Israelis living in settlements along the Gaza border reported to the Ministry of National Security that something was happening: Palestinians in Gaza were flying kites, releasing balloons, checking wind speeds, and there was chatter on the walkie-talkies.[22][23] [Itamar Ben-Gvir](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/itamar-ben-gvir) told them they were wrong — nothing was happening in Gaza, the next attack would be in the West Bank — and, in Kiriakou's account, directed government assets against possible cells there. "Well, there was nothing happening in the West Bank."[22][23]

He adds the response time as a separate indictment, noting it took the IDF six hours to react, and that Israeli forces then killed Israelis in cars attempting to evacuate the area — a record he sets against the argument that the United States should merge militaries with them under [Section 219](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ndaa-section-219).[24][25]

## The Haaretz bombshell

Kiriakou treats the September 2026 [Haaretz](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/haaretz) investigation as the version of the story with names on it. The paper's two-year investigation, corroborated by [The Jerusalem Post](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/jerusalem-post) and [The Times of Israel](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/times-of-israel), identifies four principals in the pre-attack sequence: [Netanyahu](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/benjamin-netanyahu); UAE president [Mohammed bin Zayed](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/mohammed-bin-zayed); Hamas leader [Yahya Sinwar](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/yahya-sinwar); and a Fatah intermediary code-named *Coal Eyes*, *"respected by both sides"*. The intermediary carried Sinwar's message from Gaza — that he was preparing *"a huge surprise"* and that Israel should *"expect a zilzal"* — the Arabic word for *earthquake*.[26][27]

Bin Zayed, per the account, called Netanyahu directly and said *"something was about to explode."* Netanyahu, in Kiriakou's paraphrase, *"reacted with calm"* and said his assessment was that Hamas intended to operate in the West Bank. Kiriakou flags the obvious: *"there is no Hamas presence in the West Bank. Hamas is specific to Gaza."* Egypt's intelligence chief General Abbas Kamel independently warned Netanyahu that *"something unusual is coming. A terrifying operation."*[28][29][30]

The concealment, in the report, is the load-bearing finding: *"Netanyahu kept Hamas' threat of an attack on Israel secret from the head of the Shin Bet, from the head of the Mossad, and the IDF chief of staff."* Per senior Shin Bet officials cited in the investigation, *"Netanyahu never shared details of those warnings with his intelligence services. If he had, it could have changed their entire threat assessment picture."*[31][32]

Kiriakou reads the sequence against the broader pattern already in his file: Netanyahu *"spent decades tanking peace deals, undermining a moderate Palestinian government, and working with Qatar to funnel between 1.1 and 1.4 billion dollars to Hamas between 2012 and 2013"* — a channel he attributes to a [New York Times](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/new-york-times) tally — while his own finance minister [Bezalel Smotrich](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/bezalel-smotrich) put the policy in a phrase: *"The Palestinian Authority is a burden. Hamas is an asset."*[33]

## As a starting date

Kiriakou treats the date itself as a contested piece of political messaging. In his assessment the Israeli government *"has actually been very successful"* at convincing large publics, *"especially in the United States and in Western Europe, that this whole problem began on October 7th."*[34]

Put to [Roger Waters](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/roger-waters) on Kiriakou's programme, the framing drew a categorical answer: the attack was *"a natural reaction"* on the part of an occupied population and *"an absolute side issue"* set against a history Waters dates to the Nakba of 1948, insisting that resistance to occupation is not only predictable but a right.[35][36] Waters also rejected the surrounding claim that the situation is complicated: it has *"never been complicated,"* he said, and traced the modern dispute to the second sentence of the Balfour Declaration, which conditioned a Jewish homeland on the civil and religious rights of the existing population of Palestine not being prejudiced.[37][38]

## The polling baseline

Kiriakou uses the date as the reference point for the swing in American opinion, and treats the swing as the single most important political fact about the war. *"On October 7th, 2023, Americans supported Israel over the Palestinians by 46 percentage points. This week, Americans support the Palestinians by one percentage point over the Israelis. So the Israelis are losing American public opinion, and they're doing it very quickly."*[39]

He invokes it to explain why [Charlie Kirk](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/charlie-kirk)'s late turn against Israeli conduct in Gaza mattered: someone with that following switching sides *"would be a serious problem for the Israelis."*[40]

## The dividing line

Asked on television whether he considered [Hamas](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/hamas) a terrorist organisation, [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) made October 7th the dividing line: *"I didn't, until October 7th, when they attacked civilians. I believed that they were a liberation organization. But when they murdered civilians, yes."*[41]

Asked in the same exchange whether the attack itself was a terrorist attack, his answer was qualified — *"in part, yes"* — and he immediately paired it with the judgement that Israel's response was itself indefensible.[41][42] The exchange is recorded at [the Piers Morgan panel](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-piers-morgan-panel).

## See also

- [Hamas](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/hamas)
- [Itamar Ben-Gvir](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/itamar-ben-gvir)
- [Benjamin Netanyahu](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/benjamin-netanyahu)
- [Kiriakou's mother's 2008 trip to Israel](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/kiriakou-mother-israel-trip)
- [Truman's CIA op-ed](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/truman-cia-op-ed)

## Sources

1. CIA Enemy of the State, with CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou (2024-07-27), at 21:53. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSZLMPdMGFQ&t=1313s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2024-07-27-saltcube-cia-enemy-of-the-state/
2. CIA Enemy of the State, with CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou (2024-07-27), at 22:25. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSZLMPdMGFQ&t=1345s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2024-07-27-saltcube-cia-enemy-of-the-state/
3. CIA Enemy of the State, with CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou (2024-07-27), at 22:55. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSZLMPdMGFQ&t=1375s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2024-07-27-saltcube-cia-enemy-of-the-state/
4. CIA Enemy of the State, with CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou (2024-07-27), at 43:01. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSZLMPdMGFQ&t=2581s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2024-07-27-saltcube-cia-enemy-of-the-state/
5. CIA Enemy of the State, with CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou (2024-07-27), at 43:31. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSZLMPdMGFQ&t=2611s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2024-07-27-saltcube-cia-enemy-of-the-state/
6. CIA Enemy of the State, with CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou (2024-07-27), at 44:05. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSZLMPdMGFQ&t=2645s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2024-07-27-saltcube-cia-enemy-of-the-state/
7. CIA Enemy of the State, with CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou (2024-07-27), at 45:05. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSZLMPdMGFQ&t=2705s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2024-07-27-saltcube-cia-enemy-of-the-state/
8. CIA Enemy of the State, with CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou (2024-07-27), at 46:07. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSZLMPdMGFQ&t=2767s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2024-07-27-saltcube-cia-enemy-of-the-state/
9. CIA Spy Breaks Down What's REALLY Happening in Israel (2023-12-11), at 1:53:33. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw_RQc2tpvY&t=6813s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-12-11-danny-jones-whats-really-happening-in-israel/
10. Explosive CIA Face-Off: Loyal Officer VS Dissident Spy (2024-08-12), at 2:22:08. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElMSJDkqSYQ&t=8528s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2024-08-12-danny-jones-loyal-officer-vs-dissident-spy/
11. CIA Spy Breaks Down What's REALLY Happening in Israel (2023-12-11), at 1:55:03. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw_RQc2tpvY&t=6903s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-12-11-danny-jones-whats-really-happening-in-israel/
12. CIA Spy Breaks Down What's REALLY Happening in Israel (2023-12-11), at 1:45:16. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw_RQc2tpvY&t=6316s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-12-11-danny-jones-whats-really-happening-in-israel/
13. CIA Spy Breaks Down What's REALLY Happening in Israel (2023-12-11), at 1:46:21. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw_RQc2tpvY&t=6381s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-12-11-danny-jones-whats-really-happening-in-israel/
14. CIA Spy Breaks Down What's REALLY Happening in Israel (2023-12-11), at 2:12:23. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw_RQc2tpvY&t=7943s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-12-11-danny-jones-whats-really-happening-in-israel/
15. Brainpower TV #1 Interview w/ CIA Whistleblower John Kiria (2025-06-15), at 13:39. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNgY2ljZKC4&t=819s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-06-15-joe-dirosa/
16. Kiriakou Takes Ana & Cenk Behind the Curtain (2026-07-10), at 47:09. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCtooapE9Ho&t=2829s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-10-kiriakou-takes-ana-cenk-behind-the-curtain/
17. Kiriakou Takes Ana & Cenk Behind the Curtain (2026-07-10), at 48:12. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCtooapE9Ho&t=2892s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-10-kiriakou-takes-ana-cenk-behind-the-curtain/
18. Kiriakou Takes Ana & Cenk Behind the Curtain (2026-07-10), at 47:40. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCtooapE9Ho&t=2860s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-10-kiriakou-takes-ana-cenk-behind-the-curtain/
19. Kiriakou Takes Ana & Cenk Behind the Curtain (2026-07-10), at 48:43. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCtooapE9Ho&t=2923s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-10-kiriakou-takes-ana-cenk-behind-the-curtain/
20. Former Spy Reveals the Brutal Survival Rules Inside the (2026-05-20), at 45:01. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf8xsrnBBs0&t=2701s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-20-covert-operations-insight/
21. Former CIA Agent Explains Why We Need To Break Up With Israe (2026-07-10), at 16:38. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1iSbvokFA0&t=998s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-10-the-young-turks-former-cia-agent-explains-why-we-need-to-brea/
22. Former CIA Agent Explains Why We Need To Break Up With Israe (2026-07-10), at 17:10. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1iSbvokFA0&t=1030s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-10-the-young-turks-former-cia-agent-explains-why-we-need-to-brea/
23. Former CIA Agent Explains Why We Need To Break Up With Israe (2026-07-10), at 17:41. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1iSbvokFA0&t=1061s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-10-the-young-turks-former-cia-agent-explains-why-we-need-to-brea/
24. Former CIA Agent Explains Why We Need To Break Up With Israe (2026-07-10), at 18:13. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1iSbvokFA0&t=1093s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-10-the-young-turks-former-cia-agent-explains-why-we-need-to-brea/
25. Former CIA Agent Explains Why We Need To Break Up With Israe (2026-07-10), at 18:44. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1iSbvokFA0&t=1124s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-10-the-young-turks-former-cia-agent-explains-why-we-need-to-brea/
26. Bombshell Report: Netanyahu Was WARNED Before October 7th. | Ep. 18 (2026-09-10), at 03:10. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMC_nNUkkT4&t=190s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-09-10-john-kiriakou-bombshell-report-netanyahu-was-warned-before-october-7th/
27. Bombshell Report: Netanyahu Was WARNED Before October 7th. | Ep. 18 (2026-09-10), at 09:56. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMC_nNUkkT4&t=596s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-09-10-john-kiriakou-bombshell-report-netanyahu-was-warned-before-october-7th/
28. Bombshell Report: Netanyahu Was WARNED Before October 7th. | Ep. 18 (2026-09-10), at 04:14. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMC_nNUkkT4&t=254s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-09-10-john-kiriakou-bombshell-report-netanyahu-was-warned-before-october-7th/
29. Bombshell Report: Netanyahu Was WARNED Before October 7th. | Ep. 18 (2026-09-10), at 04:45. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMC_nNUkkT4&t=285s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-09-10-john-kiriakou-bombshell-report-netanyahu-was-warned-before-october-7th/
30. Bombshell Report: Netanyahu Was WARNED Before October 7th. | Ep. 18 (2026-09-10), at 12:33. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMC_nNUkkT4&t=753s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-09-10-john-kiriakou-bombshell-report-netanyahu-was-warned-before-october-7th/
31. Bombshell Report: Netanyahu Was WARNED Before October 7th. | Ep. 18 (2026-09-10), at 05:15. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMC_nNUkkT4&t=315s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-09-10-john-kiriakou-bombshell-report-netanyahu-was-warned-before-october-7th/
32. Bombshell Report: Netanyahu Was WARNED Before October 7th. | Ep. 18 (2026-09-10), at 13:04. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMC_nNUkkT4&t=784s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-09-10-john-kiriakou-bombshell-report-netanyahu-was-warned-before-october-7th/
33. Bombshell Report: Netanyahu Was WARNED Before October 7th. | Ep. 18 (2026-09-10), at 15:13. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMC_nNUkkT4&t=913s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-09-10-john-kiriakou-bombshell-report-netanyahu-was-warned-before-october-7th/
34. Roger Waters on Palestine, Human Rights (2026-07-04), at 10:59. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPl_y9pkCA0&t=659s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-04-the-jk-report-roger-waters-on-palestine-human-rights/
35. Roger Waters on Palestine, Human Rights (2026-07-04), at 20:29. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPl_y9pkCA0&t=1229s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-04-the-jk-report-roger-waters-on-palestine-human-rights/
36. Roger Waters on Palestine, Human Rights (2026-07-04), at 21:00. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPl_y9pkCA0&t=1260s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-04-the-jk-report-roger-waters-on-palestine-human-rights/
37. Roger Waters on Palestine, Human Rights (2026-07-04), at 21:32. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPl_y9pkCA0&t=1292s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-04-the-jk-report-roger-waters-on-palestine-human-rights/
38. Roger Waters on Palestine, Human Rights (2026-07-04), at 22:04. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPl_y9pkCA0&t=1324s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-04-the-jk-report-roger-waters-on-palestine-human-rights/
39. Charlie Kirk's Story Crumbles — Iran (2025-10-11), at 12:22. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V5GlZ4IodQ&t=742s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-11-dialogue-works-charlie-kirk-s-story-crumbles-iran/
40. Charlie Kirk's Story Crumbles — Iran (2025-10-11), at 12:52. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V5GlZ4IodQ&t=772s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-11-dialogue-works-charlie-kirk-s-story-crumbles-iran/
41. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2026-03-20), at 36:24. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=145C1-XphQs&t=2184s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-20-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/
42. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2026-03-20), at 36:56. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=145C1-XphQs&t=2216s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-20-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/october-7-attack/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt