UAE denies claims it warned Netanyahu of Oct. 7 invasion

Emirati official pushes back on report that the United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the Hamas invasion days before October 7, 2023.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

An Emirati official has rejected claims that President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed personally warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of an impending Hamas attack days before October 7, 2023, challenging allegations that Israel’s leader received advance intelligence about the assault but failed to alert the country’s security establishment.

The denial was reported by the state-owned newspaper The National, considered to be a mouthpiece of the United Arab Emirates.

Earlier this month, the left-leaning Hebrew daily Haaretz published a report alleging that the Emirati president contacted Netanyahu approximately a week and a half before the Hamas invasion to warn him that the terrorist organization’s leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, was preparing a major operation against Israel.

The Prime Minister’s Office panned the report, denying its claims and threatening to sue for defamation.

The unnamed UAE official who spoke to The National pushed back on the Haaretz report, emphasizing that the UAE does not handle security issues via direct communications between “national leaders.”

The “UAE discusses security matters with other countries through the relevant entities, and does not discuss such details at the level of national leaders,” the official said.

The controversy began on September 8, when Haaretz published an investigation based on reporting by journalists Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yovel, who also detailed the allegations in their book about the hostages taken during the October 7 invasion.

According to the investigation, Sinwar had conveyed warnings through Palestinian intermediaries that Hamas was preparing a major operation if negotiations with Israel over a prisoner exchange failed to advance.

The information allegedly reached Emirati officials, who subsequently communicated their concerns to Israel.

Haaretz reported that bin Zayed later spoke with Netanyahu for approximately 45 minutes, warning that Sinwar was planning a massive operation that could destabilize the region and threaten the Abraham Accords.

The newspaper further alleged that Netanyahu reassured the Emirati leader that Israel was prepared for a potential attack and suggested that a significant escalation was more likely to originate in Judea and Samaria than in Gaza.

According to the investigation, Netanyahu did not subsequently inform senior Israeli security officials of the purported conversation.

However, Netanyahu’s office said a review of his telephone records had found no evidence of the alleged conversation with bin Zayed during the period in question.

The UAE’s initial response, issued on September 8, stopped short of confirming or denying the reported conversation.

Its Foreign Ministry said the country does not comment on media speculation about communications between national leaders, while emphasizing that relevant intelligence had been exchanged through established channels between the two governments.