Three years after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack exposed sweeping failures in Israel’s security establishment, conspiracy theories that emerged in the immediate aftermath continue to circulate widely on social media, drawing millions of views and increasingly becoming intertwined with the country’s political divisions.
FakeReporter, an online disinformation monitor, analyzed social media discourse from Oct. 7, 2023, through the third anniversary of the attack. It identified several recurring narratives, including claims of an internal betrayal, denial or minimization of the scale of the Hamas-led massacre and allegations that Israeli security agencies deliberately allowed the attack to unfold as part of an effort to bring down Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
The organization said the claims have circulated primarily on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook and Telegram, where some have accumulated tens of millions of views.
The ‘betrayal’ that wasn’t
One of the most persistent narratives centers on an alleged betrayal from within Israel.
According to FakeReporter, versions of the conspiracy theory began circulating on Oct. 7 itself and have remained prominent in the three years since. The organization said the narrative has frequently been promoted by accounts supportive of the government, with some claiming that Israeli officials or institutions deliberately enabled the attack in an effort to topple Netanyahu’s government.
The alleged perpetrators have changed over time. Early claims focused on the military, particularly Israeli Air Force pilots, and senior security officials, including the chiefs of the IDF, Shin Bet domestic security agency and Mossad intelligence service. Later versions targeted anti-government protesters. More recently, as Israel approaches elections, accusations have increasingly been directed at politicians, including Democrats party leader Yair Golan.
FakeReporter said videos promoting versions of the “betrayal from within” theory have collectively received tens of millions of views and millions of likes.
Another widespread narrative, particularly among accounts outside Israel, seeks to deny or minimize the Oct. 7 massacre.
Some accounts have alleged that Israel, and Netanyahu in particular, knew about the attack in advance and invoked the so-called Hannibal Directive to deliberately kill Israeli civilians and blame their deaths on Palestinians.
The Hannibal Directive was a controversial IDF procedure intended to prevent the abduction of soldiers, even at significant risk to the captive. Claims surrounding its use on Oct. 7 have become a recurring feature of online conspiracy theories. Questions about Israeli fire during the fighting are distinct from unsupported claims that Israel deliberately orchestrated or carried out the massacre.
Other accounts have sought to minimize the scale of the attack, claiming that casualty figures were deliberately exaggerated by Israel. FakeReporter said such claims spread rapidly on social media internationally in the days immediately following the massacre and remain prominent three years later.
A third major conspiracy narrative alleges that the IDF deliberately failed to respond properly on Oct. 7 in order to bring down Netanyahu’s government.
Versions of the claim range from allegations that security officials intentionally ignored warnings before the attack to accusations that the Israeli Air Force deliberately failed to respond effectively during its opening hours. FakeReporter said the narrative has taken on an increasingly political character and is receiving renewed attention ahead of elections.
The persistence of the theories comes as Israel continues to grapple with unanswered questions about the failures that allowed thousands of Hamas-led terrorists to breach the Gaza border on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages.
FakeReporter argues that the absence of a comprehensive official investigation and unresolved questions surrounding the failures have created fertile ground for conspiracy theories, which offer simple explanations for complicated events while often reinforcing the political or ideological views of those promoting them.
The organization warned that such narratives could pose a particular threat during an election period by manipulating political debate, undermining trust in institutions and deepening divisions within Israeli society.
Its research identified three broader trends. Conspiracy theories that initially emerged organically amid confusion over the security failures have increasingly been exploited for political purposes, it said. A lack of authoritative explanations has helped unsupported theories fill the information vacuum. And many of the narratives encourage Israelis to view political opponents, protesters or public institutions not merely as rivals but as enemies.
FakeReporter also warned that hostile actors outside Israel could exploit those divisions.
“Already on the morning of the Oct. 7 massacre, social media users began raising legitimate questions about the security failure unfolding before our eyes,” FakeReporter CEO Nir Rozen said. “With the encouragement of political actors with vested interests, those questions turned into conspiracy theories and malicious falsehoods that spread across the internet like wildfire.”
Rozen said polling indicates that a significant portion of Israelis, including a large majority of supporters of parties in the governing coalition, now believe some version of the “betrayal from within” theory.
“That is exactly the danger of conspiracy theories,” he said. “They take real questions that deserve examination and investigation and replace the search for answers with a story that has no factual basis.”
Repeated exposure can transform an unsupported claim into something audiences perceive as established fact, particularly when politicians, influencers and prominent online figures amplify it, Rozen said.
“Conspiracies like these do not remain confined to the internet,” he said. “They erode public trust in state institutions and deepen the divisions within Israeli society.”