Pre-October 7 Protocols Exposed: Eisenkot's Iron Barrier and Bar's Night

A new website called "Listen to Their Words" (bemilimshelahem.com) compiles in one place what officials said about October 7 in their own words: investigations, retirement statements, protocols and answers to the state comptroller. As of September 9, 2026, the website contained 33 files, 70 documentation items and 28 direct quotes, each quote with a link to the source.

Central to the barrier and perimeter defense debate stands Gadi Eisenkot, Chief of Staff from 2015 to 2019. According to the Prime Minister's response to the state comptroller, in a Cabinet meeting on March 10, 2016, about the underground barrier, Eisenkot said there was "an iron barrier of eight meters" whose durability was comparable to a wall. In that same meeting, Minister Yuval Steinitz warned that a surface breach was possible and that "on the surface there is no wall preventing it."

In a Gaza situation assessment from September 11, 2016, Eisenkot said, according to that same document, that the IDF had a decisive advantage over Hamas and a sophisticated intelligence system, and that the force composition in the Gaza sector was three times greater than that in the Golan Heights. In February 2026, Eisenkot denied saying the barrier was a wall impossible to cross, argued that the fence was built after his term ended, and said: "Everything is written in the protocols, there's no reason to lie."

Ronen Bar's night is documented in an affidavit filed by the Shin Bet chief to the Supreme Court and in the Shin Bet investigation published in March 2025: phone updates at 11 p.m. on October 6 to the Gaza Division commander, convening and consultation at 1 a.m., activation of 45 Israeli SIM cards in Gaza at 3 a.m. compared to 38 in Tishrei 2022, an alert at 3:03 a.m., the service chief's assessment around 4:30 a.m., and an instruction to update the Prime Minister's military secretary only at 5:15 a.m. Bar admitted that "the alert escalation level was wrong and constitutes a Shin Bet failure," and said: "The responsibility is on me."

The website presents the matters without interpretation: each person has a file with his role at the time of the attack, his accountability status, whether he met with the state comptroller and whether he testified before an investigating body. Alongside Eisenkot and Bar appear, among others, Netanyahu, Gantz, Ya'alon, Lieberman, Bennett and Levy, as well as whistleblowers such as Steinitz.