UAE President Told CIA Chief He Warned Netanyahu of 'Explosion' Before Oct 7

United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan informed Israeli and US officials that he had warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of a potential "violent explosion" in the Palestinian arena prior to the October 7th Hamas attacks. Bin Zayed reportedly conveyed this information to CIA Director Bill Burns approximately two months after the war began, according to Israel's Kan channel.

Sources familiar with the matter stated that the UAE president issued a "general warning" to Netanyahu about the possibility of severe escalation. However, these sources clarified that the warning was not specific intelligence about an imminent attack, nor did it include details on the timing or nature of a particular event. Instead, it reflected general concerns about the potential deterioration of the situation with Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza.

The exact timing of the conversation between Bin Zayed and Netanyahu remains unclear. The UAE president's accounts to Israeli and American officials indicated the discussion focused on fears of a broad "explosion" in the Palestinian arena, but did not specifically mention the Hamas assault.

This report emerges amid ongoing political and media debate in Israel regarding whether Netanyahu received advance warning from the UAE president before October 7th. Netanyahu has previously stated he instructed his lawyers to file a defamation lawsuit against the newspaper Haaretz and its journalists, Shlomi Eldar, Rot Yovhal, and Uri Misgav, over an investigation claiming he received such a warning. Netanyahu called the report "false slander" and asserted the alleged call never happened, with his representatives sending a legal notice to Haaretz demanding 2.5 million shekels in compensation.

Haaretz, however, stood by its reporting. Netanyahu also categorically denied any contact with Bin Zayed between early September and October 7th, stating that his office, the National Security Council, and the Military Secretariat meticulously reviewed his call logs for that period and found no record of a conversation with the UAE president.