Illustrative image. (Israeli Prime Minister Office)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly traveled to the United Arab Emirates over the weekend and asked President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to deny reports that he had warned Netanyahu about a looming Hamas attack before the militant group’s October 7, 2023, assault, two people briefed on the trip told The Associated Press.
Netanyahu held an hourlong meeting with Sheikh Mohammed on September 27, the people said. The visit was first reported by Israel’s Channel 12 television.
One person familiar with the meeting said the discussion focused on a report published earlier this month by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that Sheikh Mohammed had warned Netanyahu shortly before October 7 that Hamas was preparing a major attack.
Netanyahu asked the Emirati leader to deny that report, according to the person, who said they had firsthand knowledge of the meeting. The person and a regional official briefed on the talks spoke to AP on condition of anonymity because the trip was secret.
The UAE Foreign Ministry declined to comment on reports of the meeting. It said, however, that the two governments maintain “open and direct lines of communication” and that “all relevant intelligence” is shared between them.
The reported meeting comes as a series of investigations and disclosures have raised new questions about warnings received by Israeli leaders and security agencies in the weeks before the October 7 attack.
AP reported earlier this month that, according to Haaretz, Sheikh Mohammed spoke with Netanyahu about 10 days before the attack and warned him that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was planning an operation that could cause bloodshed, destabilize the region and undermine the Abraham Accords.
Haaretz reported that Netanyahu “reacted with relative calm,” assuring the Emirati leader that Israel was prepared for any scenario and suggesting that a possible attack was more likely to come from the occupied West Bank.
Netanyahu’s office has repeatedly denied that such a warning was given. In a statement reported by AP, his office said: “If there was any relevant information, it was passed through intelligence channels between the two countries.”
The UAE, for its part, declined at the time to directly confirm or deny the alleged conversation, saying it would not comment on “speculation regarding conversations between government leaders” and reiterating that the two countries maintain “open and direct lines of communication.”
The Haaretz report was based on a new book by Israeli journalists Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval, who said they interviewed dozens of sources, including senior officials in Israel and abroad. According to the report, three senior foreign officials were briefed on the contents of the alleged 45-minute conversation between Netanyahu and Sheikh Mohammed.
More recent reporting has broadened the questions about what Israeli leaders knew before the attack. The New York Times reported last week that Netanyahu had received the warning from the UAE and later told senior security officials that Israel should maintain calm in Gaza, in part because military action could jeopardize efforts to reach a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia.
According to that report, Netanyahu did not disclose the alleged Emirati warning during a security meeting six days before the attack, when some officials advocated strikes against senior Hamas figures.
A separate report by The Atlantic said Egypt’s then-intelligence chief, Abbas Kamel, traveled to Israel on September 26, 2023, and warned Israeli officials that Hamas was preparing for a significant attack. The report said Kamel did not provide a specific date or operational details, but conveyed concerns about a major escalation.
The latest reports are emerging just weeks before Israel’s October 27 national election, adding pressure on Netanyahu and his political allies. Netanyahu’s handling of the warnings surrounding October 7 had become a key issue in the election campaign.
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