Benjamin Netanyahu traveled secretly to the United Arab Emirates over the weekend to ask its leader to deny reports he’d warned the Israeli prime minister about a looming Hamas threat ahead of the Palestinian militant group’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel.
The meeting between Netanyahu and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan took place on Sunday, two people who were briefed on the Israeli leader’s trip confirmed on Monday.
Mossad Director Roman Gofman travelled with Netanyahu to the UAE on Sunday, according to Israel Hayom. The paper said the delegation also included Shmuel Ben Ezra, who heads the National Security Council and serves as national security adviser, a senior official from the Shin Bet‘s VIP Protection Unit, and senior members of the prime minister‘s own team. The report does not say whether any of them sat in on the meeting with Mohammed bin Zayed.
After initial reports of a warning from Bin Zayed, the UAE’s Foreign Ministry said earlier this month that it “does not comment on media stories or speculation regarding conversations between government leaders,” but it did not deny the call. “When necessary, all relevant intelligence has been and continues to be communicated between the relevant entities,” the statement said.
At the time, an Israeli source familiar with the matter said Netanyahu’s office tried to get the UAE to deny the report, but the UAE only agreed to issue a statement about intelligence sharing.
(September 25, 2026)
Mr. Netanyahu has denied the report.
But a person who said they had spoken with Sheikh Mohammed and another person who said they had been briefed by someone on the call between the two leaders told The New York Times that the Emirati leader had secretly reported to Mr. Netanyahu that Hamas was considering a major attack.
The warning from the Emirati leader, however, never reached the leaders of Israel’s security establishment, according to five former senior Israeli officials.
According to reports from Israel Defense Forces (IDF) radio, prior to the alleged UAE warning, Israel‘s internal security agency had received similar warnings from Egypt, which were communicated to Prime Minister Netanyahu. Egyptian intelligence services issued only a „general warning,“ without providing specific details, about the Palestinian movement‘s intention to „shake the ground in Gaza.“
(September 8, 2026)
JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was directly warned by the president of the United Arab Emirates that Hamas was planning a major offensive just days before the militant group attacked on Oct. 7, 2023, according to an Israeli newspaper report.
UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed spoke with Netanyahu 10 days before the attack and said Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza at the time, was planning an operation, the Haaretz daily said.
Neuere Medienberichte, insbesondere von Haaretz, stärken den Verdacht, dass der Angriff des 7. Oktobers 2023 von der israelischen Regierung bewusst zugelassen worden war, und möglicherweise durch die Hannibal-Doktrin mit vollem Wissen um die Vielzahl der dadurch entstehenden zivilen israelischen Opfer sogar verstärkt worden war, um daraus eine Rechtfertigung für Völkermord, ethnische Säuberung und sogar Krieg gegen den Iran zu ziehen.
An investigation published by ‚Haaretz‘ claims the Israeli prime minister was informed by UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed, 10 days before the attack, that Hamas was planning a major operation against Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received an explicit warning about a major operation being planned by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar shortly before the October 7 attack, according to a new book by journalists Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval. The account also alleges that Netanyahu received a separate warning from Egypt in the days before the massacre and later declined to authorize a renewed proposal to target senior Hamas leaders, including Sinwar.
Der Inhalt des Berichts hat es in sich: 45 Minuten lang soll der Präsident der Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate, Mohammed bin Zayed, Ende September 2023 mit Israels Premierminister Benjamin Netanjahu telefoniert haben. Eindringlich habe er in dem Gespräch vor einem bevorstehenden Großangriff der Hamas gewarnt – und das nur anderthalb Wochen vor dem 7. Oktober 2023. Also vor dem Tag, an dem die Hamas Israel überfiel, fast 1.200 Menschen tötete und etwa 250 als Geiseln nahm.