Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was allegedly warned by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan about a possible major Hamas offensive at least 10 days before the October 7, 2023 attack, according to a report by Tel Aviv-based newspaper Haaretz that has triggered a fresh political row in Israel.

Netanyahu’s office has strongly denied the claim, calling it an “absolute lie” and insisting that the prime minister neither spoke to the UAE president during the period in question nor received a warning from him. The report has nevertheless prompted renewed criticism from opposition leaders, who have accused Netanyahu of failing to act on warnings before the Hamas assault.

Haaretz Report Details Alleged UAE Warning

The Haaretz report, published on Tuesday and excerpted from a forthcoming book by the newspaper’s reporters, claimed that Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed received information suggesting that Hamas was preparing for a major attack on Israel.

According to the report, the information originated with a Palestinian adviser with close links to Gaza. The adviser had received details from a Fatah intermediary identified by Haaretz as “coal eyes”, who had reportedly met the late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar several times.

Sinwar was reported to have told the intermediary that he was preparing a “huge surprise” and used the Arabic word “zilzal”, meaning earthquake, to describe what was coming.

The intermediary allegedly passed the information to one of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed’s advisers, who subsequently briefed the UAE president.

The UAE leader was initially uncertain about the nature and credibility of Sinwar’s threat and did not immediately pass on the information, reportedly fearing that an unverified warning could prompt Israel to launch a bloody pre-emptive strike.

However, information from a subsequent meeting between the intermediary and Sinwar reportedly convinced the UAE leadership that Hamas was preparing for war.

Haaretz said Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed then concluded that the warning regarding the planned “zilzal” should be “conveyed to the Israelis, to the highest ranks there, as soon as possible”.

Shin Bet Received Information In September

According to the report, the warning was first passed to Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, Shin Bet, on September 15, 2023.

The information reportedly led Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar to seek an immediate conversation with Netanyahu. Bar is said to have recommended either a major operation to neutralise the threat or, at the very least, strengthened defensive measures around Gaza and the West Bank ahead of the Jewish holidays.

Despite this, the UAE president reportedly became concerned that Israel had not taken the action he had expected. About two weeks later, he allegedly decided to raise the matter directly with Netanyahu.

Haaretz reported that Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and Netanyahu held a 45-minute telephone conversation in late September, around 10 days before the October 7 attack.

During the conversation, the UAE president allegedly warned Netanyahu about Sinwar’s planned offensive and said such an attack could cause “bloodshed but also destabilise the entire region and undermine the Abraham Accords”.

Netanyahu was reported to have remained relatively calm during the conversation and assured the UAE president that Israel was prepared for any eventuality.

Security Officials Allegedly Pressed Netanyahu To Act

The report said Israeli intelligence and security officials had also been raising concerns over an increase in “terrorist attacks” and growing protests across Palestine.

According to Haaretz, the warnings received from the UAE added to pressure on Netanyahu to take action. The Shin Bet chief reportedly met the prime minister on October 1 as security officials continued to press for measures to address the perceived threat.

The report alleged that Netanyahu repeatedly postponed decisions. One defence official was quoted as saying that the prime minister kept asking for new plans.

“He never said ‘no’… That was always his way of postponing dealing with the problem,” the official told Haaretz.

The report further alleged that Netanyahu did not disclose warnings he had allegedly received from Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed or Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel to his Cabinet, security and intelligence chiefs or the Israeli armed forces.

A senior Shin Bet official told Haaretz that knowledge of the alleged UAE warning could have affected how Israeli agencies assessed other intelligence inputs.

“If we had known about the warnings, there’s a chance it would have given much greater weight to the initial message that reached us from Sinwar,” the official said.

October 7 Attack Triggered Gaza War

On October 7, 2023, thousands of Hamas-affiliated terrorists launched a coordinated assault on southern Israel during the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah.

The attack marked the first large-scale incursion into Israeli territory since the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and caught Israeli authorities by surprise.

At least 1,200 civilians and soldiers were killed in the assault, which subsequently triggered Israel’s ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.

The latest report is not the first to raise questions about whether Israel received advance warnings about the Hamas offensive. Earlier in 2023, the UK-based newspaper The Guardian reported that Egypt had warned Israel days before the attack, citing Michael McCaul, who was then chairperson of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Opposition Leaders Target Netanyahu

The allegations have prompted sharp criticism from Netanyahu’s political opponents.

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett was quoted by The Times of Israel as saying that, “Netanyahu bears personal and direct responsibility for the failure that led to the deaths of thousands of Israelis on his watch.”

Former Israel Defence Forces chief Gadi Eisenkot, who is running against Netanyahu in the October 27 election, also criticised the prime minister.

Writing on X, Eisenkot said, “Netanyahu received dozens of warnings about October 7 and ignored them all. He is unfit for office.”

The allegations have also drawn attention to Netanyahu’s recent criticism of Israeli security chiefs over their actions in the hours before the Hamas attack.

According to The Times of Israel, Netanyahu recently accused security officials of failing to wake him when, he said, “all the signs were there” that Hamas was preparing to invade.

Netanyahu’s Office Calls Report A ‘Total Lie’

Netanyahu’s office has rejected the allegations contained in the Haaretz report.

In a statement reported by The Times of Israel, the prime minister’s office said, “A total lie! PM Netanyahu did not speak with the president of the UAE during the period in question and received no warning from him.”

The denial has not prevented the report from fuelling renewed scrutiny over Israel’s intelligence and political failures in the period leading up to the October 7 attack.

The allegations have emerged as questions over what Israeli authorities knew before the Hamas offensive, and how they responded to available intelligence, continue to remain central to the country’s political debate.

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