UAE official denies claim that bin Zayed warned Netanyahu before massacre

A UAE official told The National newspaper from Abu Dhabi that 'The UAE discusses security matters with other countries through the relevant bodies, and does not discuss details of this kind at the level of national leaders,' in response to the claim that President Mohammed bin Zayed warned Netanyahu of a Hamas attack.

The Emirati newspaper The National, based in Abu Dhabi, published on Saturday evening the response of a UAE official to its inquiry regarding the claims that Abu Dhabi warned Israel of an impending major Hamas attack in the weeks prior to October 7. According to the official, 'The UAE discusses security matters with other countries through the relevant bodies, and does not discuss details of this kind at the level of national leaders.' The newspaper presented the remarks as a denial of the claim that a warning had been conveyed at the leaders' level.

The background is a Haaretz investigation from September 8, according to which about 10 days before the massacre, President Mohammed bin Zayed called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and in a conversation lasting about 45 minutes warned him that Yahya Sinwar was planning a significant move against Israel. Prime Minister's Office denied the report from the outset, claiming that during the period in question no conversation took place between the two and that Netanyahu did not receive a warning. Netanyahu announced his intention to file a libel suit against Haaretz and the investigation's authors.

The new response from Abu Dhabi comes after a more cautious statement from the UAE Foreign Ministry on September 8, in which the ministry refrained from confirming or denying the conversation itself and said the government does not respond to reports or speculation about conversations between leaders. In that statement it said 'When necessary, all relevant intelligence was transferred and continues to be transferred between the relevant parties.'

Likud officials responded to the publication by claiming that behind the report in Haaretz stands senior Palestinian Mahmoud Dahlan, who is based in the UAE, and called the matter foreign interference in Israel's elections. The issue has become a central topic in recent weeks in the election campaign, around the question of what warnings reached the political level before October 7.