Likud Demands Criminal Probe into Haaretz Reporter Over UAE Warning Story

A political storm has erupted in Israel following a report by Haaretz journalist Shlomi Eldar alleging that the President of the United Arab Emirates warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shortly before the October 7th Hamas attacks. The Prime Minister's office vehemently denied the report, threatening a defamation lawsuit. Haaretz stands by its story, while Netanyahu's office claims an examination of call logs proves no such conversation occurred. The UAE has stated it does not comment on media reports.

Netanyahu's lawyer sent a pre-litigation notice demanding the article's removal. The Likud party escalated the controversy, issuing a sharp statement accusing the report of being a "blatant foreign interference in the elections in Israel." The party claimed that senior Palestinian official Mohammed Dahlan, based in the UAE, was behind the "false report" published by Haaretz. Likud further alleged that Eldar received payment from a left-wing organization and demanded a criminal investigation into Eldar, Haaretz editor Ruth Yuval, the newspaper itself, Yair Golan, and the Democratic Party.

The public confrontation between the ruling party, the media, and opposition figures intensifies public tension ahead of elections. Accusations of election interference are turning the journalistic report into a focal point of a legal and political struggle expected to continue shaping public discourse in Israel.