NYT Report Claims UAE President Warned Netanyahu of Hamas Attack

A report by The New York Times alleges that UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed secretly warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in September 2023 about an impending, large-scale Hamas attack. According to the report, two sources confirmed that the UAE leader conveyed this information in a private phone call, though the warning lacked precise technical details about the planned invasion. Netanyahu has vehemently denied the report. However, sources close to the matter indicated that Sheikh Mohamed reiterated the content of this conversation months later to then-CIA Director William Burns. Crucially, this intelligence was reportedly never shared with top Israeli security officials.

Days after the alleged call, on October 1, 2023, Netanyahu convened a meeting with security chiefs to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip. The report suggests that during this meeting, Netanyahu did not mention the secret warning he had received from the UAE president. Instead, he reportedly urged for calm in Gaza and opposed senior officials' calls for targeted military actions against Hamas leaders responsible for attacks in the West Bank. Netanyahu's stated reason for this stance was that military action could jeopardize the prospects of a historic diplomatic agreement and normalization with Saudi Arabia.

The early warning, if true, proved accurate. On October 7, 2023, thousands of Hamas terrorists breached the border, killing approximately 1,200 people and abducting around 250 others. The report notes that Israeli security forces had downplayed numerous warning signs in the years leading up to the attack, and the IDF possessed a Hamas battle plan, dubbed "Jericho Wall," since 2022, but it was dismissed by senior leadership as unrealistic.

Netanyahu himself reportedly believed Hamas was deterred and instructed the security establishment to adopt a policy of delaying confrontations and maintaining the terrorist organization as a restrained governing body focused on civilian management of the Strip. The close ties between Israel and the UAE, strengthened by the 2020 Abraham Accords, have been significantly strained since the war began and due to disputes over the management of Gaza.

The Likud party responded to the New York Times report, calling it "false publications by mobilized left-wing journalists" aimed at undermining the right-wing government. They asserted that despite UAE denials and the Prime Minister's office stating no such conversation occurred, the "anti-Zionist" newspaper continues to spread lies, referencing past controversial reporting by the Times. The party concluded that the public is wise to these alleged falsehoods.