Daniel Wolfram
According to the new report, UAE president warned Benjamin Netanyahu of the October 7 attacks 10 days in advance.
A brand-new report that coincides with a new book release about the aftermath of the October 7 attacks in Israel claims that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did know about the attacks well in advance.
However, he did not do anything about it or even tell his security advisers.
A warning from a friend in the Middle East
Just ten days before the attacks on October 7, 2023, in Israel, a phone rang in Jerusalem.
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed reached out directly to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to warn him about the planned attacks by Hamas, according to new reporting by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
The report states that there was a 45-minute conversation between the two world leaders, in which the Gulf leader delivered a sharp warning.
Bin Zayed warned that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was planning a full-scale attack in Israel. An adviser who was present during the conversation said the emir strongly advised him to take preventive measures.
“The emir explained that, in his assessment, Sinwar was preparing for a major event,” the adviser recalled. He urged Netanyahu to calm the West Bank and find an economic deal for Gaza.
Netanyahu brushes call aside
To the emir’s surprise, the Prime Minister of Israel stayed unusually calm. Netanyahu dismissed the threat, insisting Hamas was focused on the West Bank while saying that Israel was ready for any scenario.
The President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, confirmed bin Zayed had grown anxious before the war. “He spoke with me about this often in the months leading up to the war,” Herzog said, adding that “the emir seemed to sense that the area was on the verge of explosion.”
Bin Zayed also shared his concerns with former CIA Director William J. Burns. Still, the critical warning never reached Israel’s top security officials after the emir conveyed his intelligence to Netanyahu.
Neither the head of the Israel Security Agency nor IDF Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi knew about the call. “None of them imagined that the prime minister would hear the message but wouldn’t brief the heads of the defense establishment,” the adviser noted.
The Prime Minister denies story
The details in this story are from the research for a new book, Hostages: 843 Days of Abandonment. The authors, Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval, relied on dozens of interviews, recordings, and internal documents for this new revelation.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s press office has rejected the report completely, claiming the story is fabricated.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu didn’t speak to the president of the UAE during the period in question and received no warning from him,” his bureau stated.
UAE officials declined to comment on this story.
