Netanyahu Denies Receiving Hamas Warning from UAE President

Opposition leaders in Israel are fiercely criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following a report alleging that UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed warned Netanyahu about Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar's intentions a week and a half before the October 7th massacre. The report claims Netanyahu did not update security officials about this specific warning.

Former IDF General and Democratic Party leader Yair Golan called Netanyahu's alleged actions "conscious and criminal neglect," stating, "His place is in jail for his crimes against the State of Israel." Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett confirmed the report's details, asserting Netanyahu bears direct responsibility for the failure, having avoided alerting security forces or convening the cabinet due to his adherence to a flawed policy of containment.

Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yisrael Party, echoed these sentiments, stating, "More and more signs indicate: Netanyahu led Israel blindly into the October 7th failure. According to this morning's report, he received an explicit warning days before the massacre from the UAE president regarding Sinwar's intentions but did not update security officials." Eisenkot further criticized Netanyahu's alleged response, calling the excuse "I wasn't woken up" ridiculous, and declared Netanyahu unfit to lead, calling for a state commission of inquiry into the decade leading up to the attack.

MK Merav Ben-Ari also joined the criticism, accusing Netanyahu of ignoring warnings out of fear of being forced to initiate an attack and alleging he is obstructing the formation of a state commission of inquiry because he is the primary subject of investigation.

However, the Prime Minister's Office issued a statement calling the report a "complete lie," asserting that Prime Minister Netanyahu did not speak with the UAE president during the period in question and received no such warning from him.