Netanyahu under fire over alleged UAE Oct 7 warning

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing renewed political pressure after a report alleged that United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan warned him about a planned Hamas operation shortly before the October 7, 2023 attack.

The report, published by Haaretz and based on an upcoming book by its journalists, has triggered a fresh debate over the security failures surrounding the devastating assault. According to the investigation, the Emirati president contacted Netanyahu around 10 days before the attack and warned that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was preparing a major operation.

The claims have been strongly rejected by Netanyahu’s office, which described the report as “an absolute lie” and said the Israeli prime minister did not speak to the UAE leader during the period in question.

The allegations have nevertheless given Netanyahu’s political opponents fresh ammunition as Israel heads towards elections on October 27. Former military commander Gadi Eisenkot accused the prime minister of repeatedly ignoring warnings and said he was unfit to remain in office.

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett also joined the criticism, saying Netanyahu bears “personal and direct responsibility” for the failures surrounding October 7. Bennett has publicly backed the report’s central claim, although he has not disclosed how he independently verified it.

According to the investigation, the information about the alleged warning originated with Sinwar. The Hamas leader reportedly told a former Palestinian official that his organisation was preparing a major operation, described as an “earthquake”. The message was then passed through an Emirati adviser before reaching Sheikh Mohamed, who allegedly contacted Netanyahu.

The report has raised questions about whether the warning was properly communicated to Israel’s security establishment. Other reporting on the investigation says the alleged conversation lasted around 45 minutes and that Netanyahu did not inform senior security officials about the warning.

The controversy comes nearly three years after Hamas fighters crossed into southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages. Israel responded with a massive military campaign in Gaza that caused widespread destruction and a huge loss of Palestinian life.

For Netanyahu, the latest allegations reopen one of the most politically sensitive questions surrounding his leadership: whether warnings about Hamas were adequately assessed before the attack.

The issue is likely to remain central to Israel’s political debate ahead of the October election, with opposition figures demanding greater accountability and renewed calls for an independent investigation into the failures that preceded October 7.