Israel's Netanyahu denies UAE warned him of October 7 attack
Israeli media reported that the UAE contacted Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu before the October 7, 2023 attacks, warning him that Hamas was planning a major operation. The prime minister has rejected the reports
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Tuesday denied a report by left-leaning Israeli newspaper Haaretz that he received a warning from the United Arab Emirates prior to the 7 October 2023 terror attacks by Hamas.
"No warning was given to the Prime Minister from the United Arab Emirates before October 7," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.
What did the reports divulge?
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Haaretz, in a report based on a book excerpt by two of the newspaper's journalists, said that UAE President Mohammad bin Zayed spoke with Netanyahu 10 days prior to the attack. In that conversation, bin Zayed said Hamas and its then-leader Yahya Sinwar were planning a major operation targeting Israel.
The UAE's Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, did not explicitly confirm the report but said, "When necessary, all relevant intelligence has been and continue to be communicated between the relevant entities." The UAE normalised relations with Israel in 2021 as part of the Abraham Accords.
According to Haaretz, bin Zayed told Netanyahu that the Hamas operation could disrupt the Middle East region and undermine the Abraham Accords. Prior to 7 October, there were signs that Saudi Arabia and Israel could soon formalise ties.
In the call with bin Zayed, Netanyahu reacted with "relative calm" to the UAE president's warning that Hamas could launch an operation. Netanyahu said Israel was prepared for any scenario and that an attack was more likely to come from the West Bank.
The Haaretz report was also confirmed by The Times of Israel (TOI) on Tuesday, with TOI citing an Emirati source that bin Zayed had warned Netanyahu of the Hamas attack.
The Haaretz article comes after centrist Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported last year that Egyptian intelligence officials had warned Israel that "something big is going to happen" shortly before the 7 October massacre.
The Hamas terror attack on 7 October killed some 1,200 people in Israel, with the group also taking another 251 hostages into Gaza. It was the single deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust.
Netanyahu chided by political rivals over report ahead of elections
The latest reports that Netanyahu had advance notice of a major Hamas operation came ahead of Israeli elections next month.
Former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, whose centrist Yashar party is frequently leading Netanyahu's centre-right Likud in the polls, said "More and more signs point to the fact that Netanyahu blindly led Israel into the disaster of October 7."
Eisenkot has pushed for an official state commission of inquiry into the 7 October attacks, an idea which Netanyahu has rejected.
Naftali Bennett, another Netanyahu opponent running in the election who earlier served as prime minister, said, "Netanyahu bears personal and direct responsibility for the failure that led to the deaths of thousands of Israelis on his watch."
Yair Golan, the chief of the centre-left Democrats party, posted a message on X to Netanyahu: "You knew, you ignored, you failed, you are to blame."
October 7 had wide-ranging consequences
The 7 October 2023 attacks had massive consequences not only for Israeli society but also for Palestinians in Gaza, where Hamas was in charge.
Following the Hamas attacks, the Israeli military began a war targeting Hamas in Gaza. That offensive left more than 73,650 Palestinians in Gaza dead, according to Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry, with a UN Commission of Inquiry last year finding that Israel committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
