Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received an explicit warning from United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed about an expected Hamas attack just 10 days before the outbreak of the war, according to an investigation published by Haaretz this morning (Tuesday).
According to the investigation, which was conducted for the book Hostages: 843 Days of Abandonment by Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval, bin Zayed held an unusual 45-minute phone call with Netanyahu in late September 2023, during which he warned that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was planning a significant event.
Despite the warning, Netanyahu responded with indifference. At the end of the call, he reassured the Emirati president, claiming that according to his assessment, Hamas was primarily focused on the West Bank and that Israel was prepared for any scenario. He did not brief the defense minister, the IDF chief of staff, the Shin Bet director, or the Mossad director on the contents of the conversation. Meanwhile, according to Eldar, Egyptian Intelligence Minister Abbas Kamel conveyed a similar message to the Prime Minister’s Office and was told that Israel had the situation in Gaza under control and was concentrating forces in the West Bank.
In an interview with Army Radio, Eldar added that a week before bin Zayed’s warning, Sinwar had sent a message to the Shin Bet chief saying that he was preparing an “earthquake.” However, the Shin Bet interpreted the message as referring to Elizabeth Tsurkov, who had been kidnapped by Shiite militias in Iraq in March 2023.
The investigation also revealed the conduct of the prime minister and Mossad Director David Barnea during the first days of the war, particularly regarding the issue of the hostages. On the evening of October 7, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani approached Barnea and informed him that Hamas was prepared to release all the civilians in exchange for an agreement to enter into mediation. The Mossad chief rejected the offer and made clear that Israel was refusing to speak with Hamas at that time. Netanyahu’s foreign policy adviser, Ophir Falk, made clear during one of the discussions in those days that Israel would not negotiate.
The Prime Minister’s Office strongly denied the claims: “An absolute lie! Prime Minister Netanyahu did not speak with the president of the United Arab Emirates during the period in question and received no warning from him.” Former IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and former Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar confirmed that they were not briefed about the warning.
The October Council said in a statement: “More and more reports point to warning signs and alerts that emerged in the days leading up to the massacre.” The organization added: “Netanyahu and his people want us to focus on the question of what time he was woken up that night. We demand to know what happened much earlier: Who knew? Who was warned? What was conveyed to the prime minister? What did he do with the information? What was conveyed to the security establishment, and what was not? And why, despite all the warning signs that have been reported since then, did the State of Israel reach the morning of October 7 blind and unprepared?
“After nearly three years, it is time to stop arguing only over who woke Netanyahu on the morning of the massacre, and start investigating who tried to wake him beforehand. Only a state commission of inquiry will reveal the truth to all of us.”
Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot responded to the report: “Netanyahu led Israel blindly into the October 7 failure. According to this morning’s report, he received an explicit warning from the president of the United Arab Emirates days before the massacre about Sinwar’s intentions, but did not brief the heads of the security establishment. Who failed to wake whom?”