Netanyahu Asked UAE President to Deny Warning Before Oct. 7 Attack

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly traveled to the United Arab Emirates on Monday, where he reportedly asked President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to deny claims that he had warned Netanyahu about an impending Hamas attack before the October 7 massacre. The visit, revealed by Channel 12, saw Netanyahu meet with bin Zayed for several hours on a private jet, according to senior Israeli officials familiar with the matter. These officials told Channel 13 that the meeting primarily focused on Iran and regional tensions.

The visit comes amid a series of reports alleging that Netanyahu received multiple warnings about Hamas's intentions prior to the October 7th attack. A New York Times report cited five senior Israeli officials who claimed that bin Zayed had indeed warned Netanyahu, despite the Prime Minister's denials of earlier reports by Israeli journalists. These officials alleged that Netanyahu did not relay this information to security chiefs in a briefing on October 1, 2023, just six days before the attack.

Further reports suggest that Egypt's then-intelligence chief, Abbas Kamel, also warned Netanyahu at least three times before the attack. The Wall Street Journal reported that Kamel's final warning came in early October, after previous warnings were apparently unheeded. According to the report, Netanyahu dismissed suggestions to neutralize Hamas leaders during a security discussion following these warnings.

Earlier reports from The Atlantic indicated that Kamel visited Israel on September 26, 2023, eleven days before the attack, and conveyed a stark message about Hamas's plans, stating, "If you don't change direction, Gaza is about to explode in your face." However, Kamel did not provide a specific date or detailed characteristics of the planned assault, and it remains unclear which Israeli officials he met with. Flight logs show the Egyptian plane was on the ground in Israel for only 67 minutes before returning to Cairo.

These claims align with an October 9, 2023, statement by an Egyptian intelligence source to the Associated Press, who stated that Israel received a message about "something big" approximately ten days before the attack. This source alleged that Israeli decision-makers were focused on the West Bank and underestimated the threat from Gaza. The Prime Minister's office has previously denied these reports.