Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Tuesday denied a report by the left-leaning Israeli newspaper Haaretz that he received a warning from the United Arab Emirates prior to the October 7, 2023 terror attacks by Hamas.
"No warning was given to the Prime Minister from the United Arab Emirates before October 7," Netanyahu's office said in a statement. Haaretz, in a report based on a book excerpt by two of the newspaper's journalists, said that UAE President Mohammad bin Zayed spoke with Netanyahu 10 days prior to the attack, warning that Hamas and its then-leader Yahya Sinwar were planning a major operation targeting Israel.
The UAE's Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, did not explicitly confirm the report but said, "When necessary, all relevant intelligence has been and continue to be communicated between the relevant entities." The UAE normalized relations with Israel in 2021 as part of the Abraham Accords.
According to Haaretz, bin Zayed told Netanyahu that the Hamas operation could disrupt the Middle East region and undermine the Abraham Accords. Prior to October 7, there were signs that Saudi Arabia and Israel could soon formalize ties. In the call, Netanyahu reacted with "relative calm" and said Israel was prepared for any scenario, suggesting an attack was more likely to come from the West Bank.
The Times of Israel confirmed the Haaretz report on Tuesday, citing an Emirati source that bin Zayed had warned Netanyahu of the Hamas attack. The revelations come ahead of Israeli elections next month, intensifying political pressure on Netanyahu.
Former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, whose centrist party often leads in polls, said "More and more signs point to the fact that Netanyahu blindly led Israel into the disaster of October 7." Eisenkot has pushed for an official state commission of inquiry, which Netanyahu has rejected.
Naftali Bennett, another opponent, said "Netanyahu bears personal and direct responsibility for the failure that led to the deaths of thousands of Israelis on his watch." Yair Golan posted on X: "You knew, you ignored, you failed, you are to blame."
The October 7 attacks killed some 1,200 people in Israel, with 251 hostages taken into Gaza. The subsequent Israeli military offensive in Gaza has left more than 73,650 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry, with a UN Commission of Inquiry finding that Israel committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Source: www.dw.com