Herzog Reveals UAE President's Message Before Oct. 7: Focused on Israeli Division

President Isaac Herzog revealed the content of a conversation he held with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan months before the October 7th Hamas attacks, stating that no security warning was conveyed to him. Speaking to Kan News, Herzog clarified the context of his discussion with Bin Zayed after the UAE president's name and their conversation were mentioned in recent investigative reports. Herzog explained that Bin Zayed expressed concern about the "legal debate tearing Israeli society apart" during the peak of the protests against the judicial overhaul. "Your attempts to manage the dialogue and mediation at the President's Residence are saving your country, and this is important to us, as we are your partners in the Abraham Accords," Herzog quoted Bin Zayed as saying. Herzog emphasized that this was the entirety of the message: "That was the whole message, there was no additional message."

These statements come amid ongoing controversy surrounding a report by Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval, which alleged that Bin Zayed warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about a significant event planned by Yahya Sinwar about a week and a half before October 7th. The report claimed Bin Zayed conveyed that Sinwar was preparing an "earthquake," but Netanyahu allegedly believed it referred to an escalation in the West Bank and did not pass the information to security officials. Netanyahu has vehemently denied both receiving such a warning and the existence of the alleged conversation, calling it "complete fake" and stating such a political call would have been recorded.

Netanyahu's office stated that a review of call logs found no record of such a conversation, nor any entry for an Emirati representative visiting the Prime Minister's office. However, subsequent reports from sources close to the UAE leadership suggested an "warning from the Emirates before October 7th" existed, though details were scarce. Further complicating the narrative, former CIA Director Bill Burns reportedly learned from Bin Zayed months after the attack that a general warning about potential "violent explosion" with Palestinians had been given to Netanyahu. Ron Dermer, however, denied the conversation occurred, stating he would have been present if it had. Herzog's clarification focuses solely on his own conversation with Bin Zayed, asserting it was about Israel's internal divisions, not about Hamas or security threats.