Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly received intelligence that warned of the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack that upended a fragile peace between Middle East countries for years. The prime minister, who’s hoping to consolidate conservative voters ahead of the country’s late-October election, denies the report.
Haaretz, an Israeli daily newspaper, published an expose on Monday saying that UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed called Netanyahu in September 2023, warning him of an imminent Hamas attack coming in October.
The report comes 50 days before Israelis decide whether to hand Netanyahu a seventh term as prime minister.
Who told Bibi what?
According to the Haaretz report, bin Zayed phoned Netanyahu a week and a half before the terrorist attacks on Oct. 7. The Emirati leader reportedly spent 45 minutes on a secure line warning Netanyahu of an imminent attack, one so severe that it threatened to upend the Abraham Accords. The peace agreement, facilitated by the U.S. in 2020, established diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab nations in the Middle East.
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The report cited multiple officials with knowledge of the call who said Netanyahu reacted with “relative calm,” saying Israel was ready.
Netanyahu reportedly told bin Zayed that Hamas planned to operate in the West Bank, and that Israel was prepared for any scenario.
Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7 resulted in the deaths of around 1,200 people and the capture of more than 200 hostages. The U.S. State Department lists 44 Americans killed and 12 Americans taken hostage, the most from a terrorist attack since Sept. 11, 2001.
Israel declared war on Hamas a day later. The Israel-Hamas War resulted in tens of thousands of casualties in Palestine, Israel and neighboring countries.
Netanyahu’s office called the Haaretz report an “absolute lie,” denying any communication from bin Zayed in the days leading up to Oct. 7.
Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu’s chief rival in the upcoming election, called the prime minister “unfit” in a social media post seen by The Associated Press.
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that “Netanyahu bears personal and direct responsibility for the failure that led to the deaths of thousands of Israelis on his watch.”
New book
The news report comes from an excerpt of a new book, “Hostages: 843 Days of Abandonment” by Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval. Eldar had previously written “Eyeless in Gaza,” published in 2005, and “Getting to Know Hamas” in 2012.
Eldar has reported on Hamas from Palestine for years.