Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing renewed political pressure following a report alleging that the president of the United Arab Emirates warned him about a major Hamas operation roughly 10 days before the October 7, 2023 attack.
Netanyahu’s office has strongly rejected the report, describing it as completely false and insisting that the Israeli leader neither spoke with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed during that period nor received any warning from him.
The allegation has nevertheless triggered a fresh demand for an investigation, with opposition leaders arguing that it could provide further evidence of warnings allegedly overlooked by Netanyahu ahead of the Hamas assault.
Opposition leaders Gadi Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett, Avigdor Lieberman and Yair Golan jointly called for an immediate and comprehensive investigation into what they described as Netanyahu’s failures before the attack.
Bennett said the report was accurate and accused Netanyahu of criminal negligence, while former Prime Minister Yair Lapid said he and senior Israeli and Egyptian officials had also warned about the possibility of an attack before October 7.
The report, published by Haaretz based on an upcoming book by Israeli journalists Shlomi Eldar and Ruti Yuval, claims that Sheikh Mohammed held a 45-minute conversation with Netanyahu in which he warned that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was preparing a major operation that could lead to significant bloodshed and regional instability.
According to the report, the warning was linked to a message Sinwar had reportedly passed through a Palestinian mediator in September 2023, referring to an approaching “earthquake.”
Haaretz reported that Netanyahu responded calmly and assured the UAE president that Israel was prepared for any possible scenario.
The UAE Foreign Ministry did not directly confirm or deny the alleged conversation, saying it does not comment on media reports or speculation concerning discussions between government leaders. It added that relevant intelligence is communicated between the appropriate authorities when necessary.
An Israeli source familiar with the matter also claimed that Netanyahu’s office sought a denial from the UAE, but the UAE instead issued a statement regarding intelligence sharing.
The controversy comes as Israel approaches its October elections, with Netanyahu’s political opponents seeking to make accountability for the October 7 attack a major campaign issue.
More than 1,200 people were killed and over 250 others were abducted to Gaza during the Hamas-led assault, which became the deadliest attack in Israel’s history.
Since the attack, several senior Israeli security officials have left their positions, including the defence minister, military chief of staff and heads of military intelligence, Mossad and Shin Bet.
Eisenkot, who is currently regarded as Netanyahu’s leading challenger, said the report further demonstrated what he described as Netanyahu’s failure to properly respond to threats before October 7. He renewed his promise to establish a state commission of inquiry if elected.
Netanyahu has continued to resist calls from survivors and bereaved families for an independent investigation into the security and intelligence failures surrounding the attack.
His government has instead maintained that senior security officials failed to adequately alert him despite intelligence suggesting that Hamas was preparing for an offensive.
The latest allegations have therefore intensified the political battle over who should bear responsibility for the failures that preceded October 7.
