Netanyahu Denies UAE Warning Before October 7 Attack

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office issued an official statement Tuesday evening on the Prime Minister's Office X account, categorically denying an earlier Haaretz report published that morning.

The statement, posted in English, declared: "The reports in the media are incorrect. No warning was given to the Prime Minister from the United Arab Emirates before October 7."

However, the carefully worded denial appears to leave open the possibility that intelligence was transmitted, just not directly to Netanyahu himself. The statement added: "If there was any relevant information, it was transferred through intelligence channels between the two countries."

The Haaretz report published Tuesday morning claimed that a week and a half before Hamas's October 7 terror attack, which took place on the morning of Simchat Torah, Netanyahu received an explicit warning from a senior Arab leader but chose to ignore it.

According to an investigation conducted for the book "Hostages - 843 Days of Abandonment," UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed made an unusual phone call to Netanyahu, warning that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was planning a "significant event." According to the report, bin Zayed told the Prime Minister that Sinwar had conveyed a message indicating he was preparing an "earthquake."

The investigation alleges that Netanyahu's response to the warning was complete indifference. The Prime Minister reportedly assessed that the reference was to an escalation in the West Bank. According to the report, Netanyahu chose not to update the Defense Minister, the IDF Chief of Staff, the head of the Shin Bet (Israel's internal security service), or the head of the Mossad (Israel's foreign intelligence agency) about the warning's contents.