NYT: Netanyahu Denies Receiving Hamas Attack Warning from UAE President

The New York Times reported that UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in late September 2023 about a potential major attack by Hamas. Two sources told the newspaper about the warning, with one claiming to have spoken directly with the UAE president and the other receiving information from someone present during the leaders' conversation. The sources indicated that bin Zayed conveyed intelligence suggesting an impending attack, though the nature of the threat, whether a rocket barrage or ground invasion, was unclear.

Six days before the October 7th attack, on October 1st, Netanyahu convened a meeting with heads of Israeli security agencies to discuss the Gaza situation. According to meeting minutes obtained by the NYT, Netanyahu did not mention the UAE president's warning. Five former senior Israeli officials told the newspaper that the information from bin Zayed likely never reached security leaders and was not found in internal investigations they participated in.

At the October 1st meeting, Netanyahu reportedly advocated for maintaining calm in Gaza and opposed strikes against Hamas leaders involved in attacks in the West Bank. He also expressed concern that an Israeli operation in Gaza could jeopardize normalization talks with Saudi Arabia, which he believed were nearing completion.

Separately, a Haaretz investigation revealed that Yahya Sinwar, Hamas leader, allegedly conveyed a warning through an intermediary known as "Coal Eyes" around September 14th. Former Palestinian Authority official Sufian Abu Zeida identified himself as that intermediary, stating Sinwar asked him to tell Israelis that "by the end of September, we will lay the cards on the table, and it will cause an earthquake in the negotiations. They should prepare to empty the prisons." This message was reportedly received by Israel's General Security Service (Shin Bet) on September 15th, and then-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar informed Netanyahu. Security officials at the time speculated Sinwar might be trying to leverage the situation for the release of Israeli researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, held by militants in Iraq.

Months later, bin Zayed reportedly discussed the warning with CIA Director William Burns, reiterating that he had alerted Netanyahu to an escalating threat from Hamas in the West Bank or Gaza. However, Netanyahu's office has vehemently denied receiving any warning from the UAE president, calling the reports "complete lies" and stating the prime minister had not spoken with bin Zayed at that time. The Prime Minister's Office asserted that any such intelligence would have been shared through established intelligence channels between the two countries. Neither Netanyahu's office nor the UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to the NYT's request for comment. An earlier official source from the UAE told The National newspaper that security matters are typically handled through relevant departments, not at the head of state level.