JERUSALEM (AP) — A former close aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that immediately following the October 2023 Hamas attack that triggered Israel’s two-year war in Gaza, the Israeli leader instructed him to figure out how the premier could evade responsibility for the security breach.
Former Netanyahu spokesperson Eli Feldstein, who faces trial for allegedly leaking classified information to the press, made the explosive accusation during an extensive interview with Israel’s Kan news channel Monday night.
Critics have repeatedly accused Netanyahu of refusing to accept blame for the deadliest attack in Israel’s history. But little is known about Netanyahu’s behavior in the days immediately following the attack, while the premier has consistently resisted an independent state inquiry.
Speaking to Kan, Feldstein said “the first task” he received from Netanyahu after Oct. 7, 2023, was to stifle calls for accountability.
“He asked me, ‘What are they talking about in the news? Are they still talking about responsibility?’” Feldstein said. “He wanted me to think of something that could be said that would offset the media storm surrounding the question of whether the prime minister had taken responsibility or not.”
He added that Netanyahu looked “panicked” when he made the request. Feldstein said he was later told by people in Netanyahu's close circle to omit the word “responsibility” from all statements.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 hostages back to Gaza. Israel then launched a devastating war in Gaza that has killed nearly 71,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half the deaths were women and children.
Netanyahu’s office called the interview a “long series of mendacious and recycled allegations made by a man with clear personal interests who is trying to deflect responsibility from himself,” Hebrew media reported.
Feldstein’s statements come after his indictment in a case where he is accused of leaking classified military information to a German tabloid to improve public perception of the prime minister following the killing of six hostages in Gaza in August of last year.
Feldstein is also a suspect in the “Qatargate” scandal, one of two close aides to Netanyahu accused of accepting money from Qatar while also working for the prime minister.
FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu adjusts the headphones during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Jerusalem Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, Pool, File)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a joint press conference after a trilateral meeting with Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Citadel of David Hotel in Jerusalem, Monday Dec. 22, 2025. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP)
DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 23, 2025--
Xcimer Energy Inc. welcomed U.S. Energy Sec. Chris Wright and U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans of Colorado to the company’s Denver laser bay on Monday for a technology briefing and update on its progress to commercialize laser fusion.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251223969253/en/
Earlier this year, Xcimer completed the first key component of its prototype laser system. Just last week, the company began testing the highest-energy KrF laser built in the 21st century. This laser provides the optical energy to power the “Phoenix” pulse compression prototype, which generates laser pulses with the optical characteristics needed to ignite inertial fusion fuel capsules.
Xcimer’s Phoenix system will be fully complete in H1 2026, Xcimer Energy Co-founder and CEO Conner Galloway said. Phoenix is on-schedule and on-budget, Galloway said in the briefing, also attended by Chancellor of Colorado State University System Dr. Tony Frank.
Xcimer’s goal for 2030 is to complete the construction of Vulcan, its next-generation facility, which will achieve the highest laser energy in the world, up to 12 MJ, using the largest laser amplifiers ever built.
In 2031, Vulcan is expected to achieve engineering breakeven from fusion for the first time. Xcimer’s laser will be the world’s brightest, highest-energy and most powerful laser system, surpassing the French Laser Megajoule and China’s new facility in Mianyang.
“Fusion on our energy grid will unleash America’s full potential and help power the industries of the future,” said Secretary Wright. “Xcimer shows how America’s private sector can build on our nation’s unique public-sector breakthroughs and commercialize them — not just for future generations, but in our lifetimes.”
“Energy dominance is essential for national security and economic strength," said Rep. Evans, who represents Colorado’s 8th district. "I'm proud of the great work that Xcimer is doing to lead the nation and world in clean and safe nuclear fusion technology."
Laser fusion: America’s brightest innovation
Laser fusion is America’s brightest innovation — the only scientifically demonstrated fusion approach that’s definitively generated more energy than it takes to produce it.
In 1988, scientists from Livermore and Los Alamos carried out experiments at the Nevada test site which proved inertial fusion can achieve commercially-relevant performance. In December 2022, Lawrence Livermore National Lab’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) achieved scientific breakeven using laser inertial fusion — still the only fusion approach to exceed scientific breakeven.
In 2022, Conner Galloway and Alexander Valys co-founded Xcimer Energy to accelerate America’s lead in laser fusion — and scale it from national labs to commercial energy production. Galloway and Valys studied plasma physics and engineering at Massachusetts Institute for Technology and worked together at Los Alamos National Lab before founding Xcimer.
The company combines the only fusion approach that has been experimentally demonstrated to exceed scientific breakeven (hotspot-ignited laser-inertial fusion) with a novel laser architecture that has significantly lower costs than solid-state laser technology such as that used at the NIF.
Multistate search for Vulcan’s home
The leading laser fusion company employs more than 150 people, mostly in its Denver headquarters. The company also has manufacturing operations in Tucson, Arizona.
Xcimer is conducting a site selection process to house Vulcan, which would directly employ physicists, technicians, and support staff. The team is considering opportunities in the company’s home state of Colorado, as well as in Texas, New Mexico, California, and elsewhere.
Utilities and communities across the country have actively partnered to craft competitive proposals, aiming to win this project. Vulcan’s presence is expected to drive infrastructure investment, workforce development, and attracting cutting-edge industries.
As the world’s highest-energy laser system, Vulcan will be a center of high-tech development around energy, fusion, high-energy science, national security and defense missions. Vulcan’s location could pave the way for a future regional source of zero-carbon energy expertise, making the location attractive to more emerging businesses such as data centers and software companies, robotics manufacturers, medical research facilities, and their support services.
“Fusion is the last new energy source humanity will ever need, the key to a prosperous future,” said Galloway. “The countries, states and counties that take the lead in the global fusion race will disproportionately reap the benefits.”
Read the full news release here.
About Xcimer Energy Inc.
Xcimer combines novel laser technology with proven science to commercialize laser fusion energy. Founded in 2022 and based in Denver, Colorado, Xcimer is backed by the world’s leading climate tech investors and has been selected for funding by the U.S. Department of Energy. Its mission is to develop a source of unlimited, clean, safe and reliable energy to power the future. To learn more, visit https://xcimer.energy/.
During a technical briefing on Dec. 22, 2025, at Denver-based laser fusion leader Xcimer Energy, U.S. Energy Sec. Chris Wright greets pulsed power engineer Micah LaPointe. Looking on from left are U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans of Colorado; Xcimer Co-founder, President and Chief Technology Officer Alexander Valys; and Xcimer Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Conner Galloway. Photo by Edward De Croce.
