Haaretz report alleges UAE leader warned Netanyahu before 7 October attack
The Israeli prime minister’s office rejected the allegation as “an absolute lie”, while opposition figures renewed calls for his resignation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing renewed political pressure after Haaretz reported that UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan warned him about preparations for a major Hamas operation roughly a week and a half before the 7 October 2023 attack.
According to the report, published as an excerpt from a forthcoming book by Haaretz reporters, the warning reached the Emirati leader through a former Palestinian official and an adviser. Haaretz said Netanyahu responded calmly and did not inform Israeli security chiefs.
Netanyahu’s office denied that he spoke with the UAE president at the time and described the report as “an absolute lie”. The alleged conversation has not been independently verified in the supplied material, and Haaretz reportedly relied mainly on anonymous sources.
Opposition figures Gadi Eisenkot and Naftali Bennett used the report to renew demands for Netanyahu to leave office. Eisenkot accused the prime minister of ignoring warnings about the attack, while Bennett said Netanyahu bore personal and direct responsibility for the deaths.
The UAE and Israel established diplomatic ties in 2020 under the US-brokered Abraham Accords. Hamas’s 7 October attack killed 1,221 people and involved 251 hostages, according to figures cited by France 24.
