Netanyahu asked UAE leader to publicly deny 7 October 2023 warning to Israel: Report - Middle East Eye

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travelled to the UAE on Sunday to ask Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed to publicly deny a story that the Gulf state warned him in advance of the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, according to a report by the Associated Press. 

Netanyahu lobbied the UAE president in an “hour-long” meeting to deny reporting by Haaretz that said he was warned Hamas was planning a major operation, according to Israeli media outlets.

The report, published by Haaretz and based on an upcoming book, said Zayed had told Netanyahu that Israel should be ready for a Hamas-led attack. The Emirati leader also recommended trying to find an economic solution to the besieged Gaza Strip and calm tensions in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinians with impunity and dramatically expanded illegal settlements. 

The UAE's state news agency WAM confirmed in a statement on Monday evening Zayed received Netanyahu in the Gulf state and the two discussed ways to "strengthen bilateral relations".

Netanyahu’s surprise visit to the UAE comes roughly one month before hotly anticipated elections in Israel that could spell the end of Netanyahu’s term in office.

Leaders of five Israeli opposition parties have agreed to coordinate their efforts in order to bolster their chances of unseating Netanyahu.

At the same time, the elections are occurring amid a crackdown on Palestinian citizens of Israel. Last week, Israel's Central Elections Committee voted to ban the country's two main Arab-majority political lists from the parliamentary election. It also voted to bar two Joint List candidates.

Israel’s Supreme Court can overturn the decision.

Netanyahu has been dogged by charges that he ignored warnings about Hamas’s preparations for an attack on southern Israel. Less than a week after 7 October 2023, Republican Congressman Michael McCaul said lawmakers were briefed that Egypt warned Israel days prior to the attack.

”We know that Egypt has warned the Israelis three days prior that an event like this could happen," McCaul said publicly.

The Associated Press also reported in the early days of October, after the Hamas-led attack, that Israel had been warned by Egypt of “something big” about to happen in Gaza.

Both The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic have revived this story in recent days, naming Abbas Kamel, Egypt’s former spy chief, as the emissary to Netanyahu.

Netanyahu and his government have consistently denied these reports. Following Haaretz’s September article, the Israeli Prime Minister moved to discredit it by saying Mohammed Dahlan was the source for the story. 

Dahlan is an exiled Fatah Palestinian politician who clashed with both Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas. He is a close ally of the UAE and has often been floated as a potential ruler of Gaza in an Emirati-backed plan.

The UAE and Israel are close allies and cooperate on military and intelligence matters. But there have been some signs of strain in the relationship over Netanyahu’s handling of the relationship.

In May, the UAE’s foreign ministry denied a public claim made by Netanyahu's office that he visited the Gulf state and held a secret meeting with its president during the height of fighting with Iran.

"Any claims regarding unannounced visits or undisclosed arrangements are entirely unfounded unless officially announced by the relevant authorities in the UAE," the statement said.

Netanyahu's office said the meeting resulted in a "historic breakthrough" in relations between the two countries.