Nova Party Security Official Reveals Warning Recorded Before October 7: I Was Informed of Possible Chaos During Sukkot

Tel Aviv - Ofoq News - Alkana Federman, who served as the security official at the “Nova” party and currently heads the “Takuma” party, revealed that he received an audio recording about a week before the attack on October 7, 2023, which included a warning of the possibility of “chaos” during the Jewish Sukkot holiday, noting that he conveyed the recording to officials higher than him, but they informed him that things were fine.

In an interview with Maariv newspaper, Federman said that a member of the security staff who was scheduled to work at the ceremony sent him the recording on September 26, 2023, and the sender was then serving as a soldier in the Gaza Division of the Israeli army.

According to Federman, the recording included a warning about the possibility of unusual events occurring in the region during Sukkot.

The soldier said in the recording: "I wanted to tell you something so that you are aware. I am serving here in the Gaza Division, in Re'im, near the place where the Unity concert is being held. As the whole country knows, the situation in the Gaza area is not good. I also understood from the Chief of Staff Sergeant of the Division, through his hints, that chaos might occur during Sukkot."

The soldier added in the recording that he wanted to inform the organizers of the party so that those there would not be surprised, explaining that the matter was not certain, and that unusual events may or may not occur, but he saw the need to convey the information to them.

Federman: I conveyed the recording to my superiors and they informed me that everything was fine

Federman explained that he listened to the recording and then referred it to officials higher up in the administrative hierarchy, saying: “I listened to the recording and passed it on to those higher than me in the hierarchy. I assume they checked the matter with the army, and then they told me that everything was fine.”

He added that he did not believe at any time that Hamas was completely deterred, but he did not imagine that an attack of the size that Israel witnessed on October 7 would occur.

Federman criticized the security perceptions that prevailed before the attack, considering that Israel was captive to a wrong security concept.

He said: "From my point of view, Hamas was never deterred. I thought that the West Bank could explode, and that the Arabs of Israel could explode, but I was not prepared for something like this."

He added, criticizing the way the situation was dealt with in the Gaza Strip before the attack: “Maybe we could deal with them this way or that, and give them a good life, as if we were, I don’t know, turning Gaza into Disneyland.”

Federman: The soldiers felt that something was happening on the ground

Federman stressed that the recording does not prove the existence of confirmed and specific information regarding the October 7 attack, but rather reflects the fears and impressions that were forming among soldiers working in the region before the attack.

He said: “This recording is not a conspiracy theory. Since I published it, it has become clear that this is what the soldiers on the ground felt. This was a basic feeling they had, and it was reflected in their conversations, along with many others who spoke about the matter.”

He pointed out that some soldiers observed unusual Hamas activities before the attack, but their warnings fell on deaf ears, adding: “Hamas was conducting training and practicing, and we were about to engage in another event, but no one listened to them.”

On the other hand, Federman said that his ability to take action was limited, because he was a civilian and responsible for the security of the concert, and the crew members were not armed.

He added: "What could I have done with the recording? I was a civilian. We are organized on paper and are not armed. What could I have done? I did my duty and transferred the recording."

He stressed that if he had known that the matter was an actual warning of a large-scale attack, he would have acted completely differently, saying: “If I had known, I would have conveyed the matter to Itamar Ben Gvir, stopped everything, and tried to prevent what happened, at least. But there was no... Who would have expected that? Who would have known?”

He added that the morning of October 7 itself did not reveal to him, as to many others, the extent of what was happening until the start of launching rockets from the Gaza Strip, at approximately 06:29 am.