Netanyahu to Sue Haaretz Newspaper Over Report on UAE Warning

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Wednesday that he has instructed his lawyers to file a defamation lawsuit against the Haaretz newspaper, journalist Shlomi Eldar, and others. The suit follows a report published Tuesday alleging that UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed warned Netanyahu about a major Hamas operation days before the October 7th massacre. The Haaretz report, based on the new book "Hostages: 843 Days of Abandonment" by Eldar and Ruth Yuval, claims bin Zayed and Netanyahu held a 45-minute call about ten days before the attack. According to the report, the UAE president warned that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was planning a significant move that could destabilize the region and harm the Abraham Accords. The report further states Netanyahu responded that Israel was prepared for any scenario and that the greater threat at the time came from the West Bank.

The Prime Minister's Office had already denied the report on Tuesday. Netanyahu subsequently released a detailed statement titled "Lies Made by Haaretz," asserting that no conversation took place between him and the UAE president from early September 2023 until the massacre. He stated that the Prime Minister's Office, the National Security Council, and the Military Secretary's office thoroughly checked his call logs and found no record of such a conversation. Netanyahu explained that his policy discussions with bin Zayed typically occur via the UAE envoy, who uses an encrypted device and whose visits are documented.

Netanyahu pointed to an interview Eldar gave to Channel 12 news where he described this communication method. However, checks of the Prime Minister's office entry logs for the period in question also reportedly found no record of a UAE envoy visiting. The Prime Minister's statement emphasized that the lack of documentation for both the call and the envoy's visit proves the reported event did not occur. Netanyahu also dismissed a separate claim that Egypt had warned him of an impending attack, calling it a refuted allegation from the war's outset.

"All this proves that this is a wicked fabrication with clear political timing, as part of the left's election campaign, and there will be more such false fabrications," Netanyahu claimed. The report sparked sharp political reactions, with former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett supporting the publication's accuracy, while Gadi Eisenkot and other opposition parties demanded an investigation into all warnings received before October 7th. The UAE has not confirmed or denied the call, stating only that intelligence is shared through established channels.

In his statement, Netanyahu also shifted blame for the intelligence failure to former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and former IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, claiming they saw signs of an impending attack hours before but failed to update him or order sufficient preparedness. "Ronen Bar and Herzi Halevi saw all the signs indicating the attack hours before its start," Netanyahu asserted. "If instead of fearing miscalculation, they had instructed the IDF, the Shin Bet, and the emergency response teams to preempt the blow, and if they had updated Prime Minister Netanyahu in time, the terrible massacre could have been prevented."

Netanyahu's statement deepens the dispute over responsibility for the failures preceding the massacre. While former security chiefs have accepted responsibility and left their posts, Netanyahu consistently maintains he received no specific warning about the attack's timing and that the security establishment did not present him with all accumulated intelligence. These issues are expected to be central to the upcoming election campaign and calls for a state inquiry. Netanyahu's legal representatives have sent a pre-litigation letter to Haaretz demanding 2.5 million shekels in compensation. Haaretz responded by stating, "We stand by our publication."