UAE President Warned Netanyahu of Hamas Attack Before Oct. 7

The President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approximately 10 days before the October 7th Hamas attack that Yahya Sinwar was planning a major operation against Israel. According to the report in Haaretz, bin Zayed provided verified intelligence indicating Sinwar's intentions. The conversation reportedly lasted 45 minutes, but the warning was allegedly not presented to top security officials in Israel. This revelation adds to a series of prior warnings received by Israeli political and security leadership in the months and years leading up to the attack.

Among these prior warnings was the "Jericho Wall" plan, developed by the IDF's Operations Directorate, which detailed a scenario closely resembling the October 7th assault. A secret discussion on July 27, 2022, led by then-Brigadier General Yaron Finkelman, who later commanded the Southern Command on October 7th, noted the plan and the possibility of Hamas achieving surprise through deception or miscalculation. Despite this, the plan was not fully implemented, and Finkelman himself was reportedly misled by Hamas's deceptive tactics in the hours before the invasion.

Intelligence assessments from the IDF's Intelligence Directorate in July 2023 also alerted Netanyahu to severe new security implications stemming from Israel's internal political crisis. The directorate warned that enemies perceived a historic opportunity due to the unprecedented internal divisions, which they believed weakened Israel's deterrence across four key pillars: military strength, the alliance with the US, economic stability, and internal cohesion. The crisis with the US and the impact on reserve forces were identified as particularly concerning.

Furthermore, former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar reportedly warned Netanyahu on July 24, 2023, just before a key Knesset vote, that war was imminent, though a precise date could not be given. Bar emphasized that Israel's enemies perceived weakness and stressed the need for broad national consensus to prevent conflict. Opposition leader Yair Lapid also delivered a public warning speech about two weeks before the attack, citing intelligence and the government's disregard for security officials' recommendations.

Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel reportedly conveyed a warning of an "unusual, formidable operation" from Gaza to Netanyahu's office just three days before October 7th. However, Netanyahu's office denied receiving any such warning, a denial that Egyptian sources maintained was inaccurate. These sources expressed astonishment at Israel's perceived indifference to the Egyptian warning, suggesting that Israeli officials believed the situation in Gaza was under control and that their focus was on the West Bank.