UAE Leader Warned Netanyahu of 'Violent Explosion' Before Oct. 7

A report claims that UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of a potential "violent explosion" in the region months before the October 7th Hamas attacks. According to sources cited in the report, bin Zayed conveyed these concerns to CIA Director William Burns, referencing a prior conversation with Netanyahu. The UAE president reportedly expressed worries about escalating tensions between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

The warning, however, was described not as specific intelligence but as a political and security assessment of risks stemming from rising tensions prior to October 7th. This revelation comes amid ongoing debate about whether Israeli political and security bodies received prior indications of a potential large-scale escalation.

Netanyahu has vehemently denied any such conversation with the UAE president between September 1st and October 7th, stating that official communication logs show no record of a call. He announced legal action against the newspaper Haaretz and its journalists, seeking 2.5 million shekels in damages, calling the report a "baseless false slander." Netanyahu asserted that his office, the National Security Council, and the military secretariat reviewed communication records and found no documentation of a call with bin Zayed during the specified period.

Haaretz, in response to Netanyahu's denial, briefly stated, "We stand by what we published," setting up a direct confrontation between the official Israeli account and the newspaper's reporting. The report, attributed to bin Zayed, suggests the warning was general and did not contain specific intelligence about an impending attack.

The nature, timing, and details of the alleged conversation remain disputed, particularly given the conflicting accounts of a direct call between Netanyahu and bin Zayed before October 7th. The veracity of the claims hinges on verifiable communication records and official sources.