Israeli Security Officials Deny Knowledge of Egyptian Spy Chief's Pre-Oct. 7 Visit

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in an interview on Channel 14 that Kamel did land in Israel shortly before the attacks. Netanyahu denied meeting him, explaining he was attending a Yom Kippur War memorial ceremony at Mount Herzl, and questioned which Israeli officials Kamel met during his brief stay. Former military secretary Avi Gill also publicly confirmed that an Egyptian plane had landed and stayed for about an hour.

However, senior Israeli security officials from the period, including former National Security Advisor Tsachi Hanegbi and the former heads of the Shin Bet, Mossad, and Military Intelligence, denied any knowledge of a visit by Kamel. A senior security source stated that the security establishment would have known of such a visit in real-time and challenged Netanyahu to identify who Kamel met if the visit indeed occurred.

Investigations by Channel 12 and Kan News subsequently disputed the visit entirely, reporting that the private Egyptian jet that landed on September 26 carried two Egyptian businessmen rather than Kamel. According to these reports, the businessmen entered Israel through standard border control, and their identities are recorded in government databases, while the aircraft departed empty for Cairo after approximately one hour.