Foreign Reports of Pre-Oct 7 Warnings to Netanyahu Spark Controversy

Recent foreign media reports, notably from The Wall Street Journal, have reignited claims that Egyptian intelligence warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of an impending attack from Gaza prior to the October 7th Hamas massacre. The reports suggest that former Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel directly alerted Netanyahu about a potential escalation.

These claims are not entirely new, having surfaced shortly after the October 7th attacks. The Wall Street Journal's report, however, adds the detail of two additional Egyptian warnings allegedly conveyed to Israel in early October, followed by Kamel's direct communication with Netanyahu. These reports come on the heels of a similar article in The Atlantic, which claimed Kamel made a secret visit to Israel on September 26, 2023, to warn Israeli officials of a significant Hamas threat, though without specifying a date or concrete details.

Both The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic reports indicate that the warnings lacked specific details regarding the timing or scope of the attack, describing them as alerts about a potential significant escalation rather than a precise forewarning of the October 7th massacre. These foreign publications have been characterized by some as part of a campaign against Netanyahu, particularly with Israeli elections on the horizon.

Adding to the controversy, a report in Haaretz alleged that UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed also warned Netanyahu before the attack. However, the UAE officially denied this, stating that security discussions occur through relevant bodies and not at the national leaders' level in such detail. Similarly, claims that Hamas provided a warning to Israel's Shin Bet security agency prior to the attack have been denied by the agency, with former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant suggesting the message related to the abduction of Israeli citizen Elizabeth Tsurkov in Iraq.

Netanyahu's office has vehemently denied the latest reports of warnings from Egypt, labeling them as false and recycled to mislead the public. They reiterated that Egypt officially denied warning Israel about the October 7th attack on October 11, 2023, and stated that Netanyahu did not meet or speak with Abbas Kamel in the months preceding the attack, nor did any Israeli intelligence official convey such a warning to the Prime Minister.