Haaretz Investigation: UAE Warned Netanyahu of Hamas Attack 10 Days Before Oct. 7, Netanyahu's Office Calls It an Absolute Lie

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was personally warned by United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan that Hamas was preparing a major offensive roughly 10 days before the Oct. 7, 2023 attack, and that Netanyahu did not act on it.

According to Haaretz, bin Zayed called Netanyahu for 45 minutes from the presidential palace in Abu Dhabi at the end of September 2023. He told Netanyahu that then-Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was preparing a major operation that could cause significant bloodshed, destabilize the region, and undermine the Abraham Accords, the normalization agreements between Israel and several Arab states.

Netanyahu "reacted with relative calm," Haaretz reported, telling bin Zayed he believed Hamas intended to act in the West Bank and assuring him Israel was prepared for any scenario. The Jerusalem Post, citing the same investigation, reported that Netanyahu did not raise the warning in subsequent security briefings, and that neither then-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar nor IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi told Haaretz they had been informed of it.

The report traces the warning further back. It says Sinwar told a Palestinian intermediary in September 2023 that he was preparing a "zilzal," or earthquake, later describing it as "the mother of all surprises" and a "terrifying operation." That message reportedly reached the UAE and, on September 15, Israel's Shin Bet. Bar briefed Netanyahu, and a security assessment two days later concluded Israel was on what Bar called a "collision course," the Jerusalem Post reported, though no decision on an offensive or defensive response was made. The UAE, concluding Israel hadn't responded adequately, then had bin Zayed call Netanyahu directly.

The Jerusalem Post also reported that Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel separately warned Netanyahu around the same time of "something unusual, a terrifying operation," and that Netanyahu responded that Israel had the situation in Gaza under control. Bin Zayed later discussed his concerns with then-CIA Director William Burns, telling him "something there is about to explode," according to the Times of India's account of the Haaretz report.

Netanyahu's Office Pushes Back Hard

Netanyahu's office called the report "an absolute lie" and said the prime minister did not speak with the UAE president "during the period in question and received no warning from him," according to Haaretz as relayed by the Associated Press and CBC. Later Tuesday, his office issued a broader statement calling the reports "false," adding on X: "If there was any relevant information, it was passed through intelligence channels between the two countries."

Netanyahu's camp isn't necessarily denying that intelligence moved between Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi. It's denying the specific claim that bin Zayed personally called him and that he personally dismissed it. The Haaretz account rests on anonymous sourcing, described as "three senior foreign sources" and a close adviser to bin Zayed, not on a released transcript, recording, or on-the-record UAE government confirmation. The UAE's Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for comment, according to the Associated Press and the LA Times.

Election Fallout

Israel holds national elections next month, and Netanyahu's actions in the run-up to Oct. 7 are already a central campaign issue. Gadi Eisenkot, a former IDF chief of staff and Netanyahu's leading rival, wrote on social media that Netanyahu is "unfit" for office and accused him of ignoring dozens of prior warnings, calling his past explanations, including that he wasn't woken up in time on the morning of the attack, "pathetic," according to the Guardian.

Naftali Bennett said Netanyahu "bears personal and direct responsibility for the failure that led to the deaths of thousands of Israelis on his watch." In a joint statement, Bennett, Eisenkot, Yair Golan and Avigdor Lieberman demanded to know "what did Netanyahu know, when did he know, why he didn't update the security establishment, and why he didn't act to protect Israeli civilians," according to Euronews.

Netanyahu has rejected calls for an official government inquiry into the Oct. 7 failures throughout his tenure since the attack, according to CBC and the Associated Press. The Hamas assault killed roughly 1,200 people and took 251 hostage. Israel's subsequent offensive has killed more than 73,650 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, a figure cited by the Associated Press.

Whether any documentary evidence, a call log, an intelligence cable, or a recording will surface to settle the dispute between Haaretz's anonymous sourcing and Netanyahu's flat denial remains uncertain. With elections next month and opposition leaders now formally demanding an accounting, that question is likely to dominate the remaining weeks of the campaign rather than get resolved by it.