UAE Warning Denial: Herzog's Office Rejects October 7 Claims

The office of Israeli President Isaac Herzog issued an official statement Wednesday denying a report in Haaretz newspaper claiming he received advance warning from the United Arab Emirates about the October 7 Hamas attack.

The denial comes as Emirati sources told Israeli broadcaster N12 that they did indeed pass a warning to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before the massacre. An Emirati official told the channel: "There are leaders willing to gamble with your lives if it gives them half an hour more in power. The statement they published last night says everything and doesn't deny that it happened—they couldn't avoid addressing it."

Herzog's office stated that conversations between the Israeli president and UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed in the months before October 7 "did not deal at all with security matters, Hamas, or Yahya Sinwar." According to the statement, the discussions focused on "social and internal matters in Israel and relations between the countries."

The presidential residence emphasized that "the president was not aware of the alleged warning and has no knowledge whatsoever regarding the existence of such a warning."

The controversy stems from an investigative report published in Haaretz claiming that 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 Netanyahu that Sinwar had conveyed a message indicating he was preparing an "earthquake."

The Prime Minister's Office also denied the report, announcing that Netanyahu has instructed his attorneys to file a defamation lawsuit against Haaretz, journalist Shlomi Eldar, and other parties. According to the PMO, an investigation conducted by the prime minister's bureau, the Foreign Ministry, and the military secretariat found no documentation of such a call between early September and October 7.

The investigative report has sparked political uproar. Opposition leaders Gadi Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett, Avigdor Lieberman, and Yair Golan called for the immediate establishment of a state commission of inquiry. "The public in Israel deserves to know what happened before, during, and after the October 7 massacre," their joint statement read.