Approximately 10 days before the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a personal warning from the leader of the United Arab Emirates that Hamas was planning a major offensive action against Israel, without, however, informing the Israeli security leadership or utilizing the information, according to a report by Haaretz. The revelation is included in a new book titled "Kidnapped: 843 Days of Abandonment" by journalists Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval, which is based on interviews with dozens of sources, including senior officials in Israel and other countries.
The warning from Mohammed bin Zayed
According to the report, a 45-minute telephone conversation took place around late September between Mohammed bin Zayed, known as MBZ, and Benjamin Netanyahu. The UAE leader reportedly warned Netanyahu that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was planning a major operation against Israel that would lead to bloodshed, destabilize the region, and potentially jeopardize the Abraham Accords. Indeed, according to the report, MBZ was reportedly surprised by Netanyahu's reaction, which he described as essentially reassuring; the Israeli prime minister reportedly told him that Jerusalem had the situation in Gaza under control, that any Hamas action was more likely to manifest in the West Bank, and that Israel was prepared for any eventuality.
The information originated from Sinwar himself
The update to Mohammed bin Zayed regarding the Hamas threat reportedly originated from Yahya Sinwar himself. In mid-2023, Sinwar was frustrated by the lack of progress in negotiations with Israel for the release of prisoners; during that period, Hamas was holding several Israelis who had crossed into Gaza on their own initiative, as well as the bodies of two Israeli soldiers. Sinwar had reportedly repeatedly warned a senior Fatah interlocutor that if no progress was made on a deal, the consequences would be severe. "Tell the Israelis that if they do not proceed, I am preparing a huge surprise for them," he reportedly said in one of the conversations, adding: "Tell them to expect an earthquake." In another conversation, he reportedly stated that he was preparing "a terrible operation," leading the Fatah official, who maintained close ties with an advisor to Mohammed bin Zayed, to inform his friend about the chilling warnings.
"He was even afraid for his life"
The advisor to Mohammed bin Zayed describes the state of the Fatah official to Haaretz as particularly anxious. "He was upset," he stated, adding: "It was clear to him that the operation Sinwar was talking about could affect the entire Middle East, but he was afraid to convey the information directly to Shin Bet." "On the other hand, he was even more afraid that if he did not inform Shin Bet, the Israelis might accuse him of collaborating with Sinwar; he was genuinely afraid for his life, so he decided to pass the message to Bin Zayed."
Shin Bet was informed, but did not perceive the danger
According to the publication, the advisor and Mohammed bin Zayed himself interpreted the warning as an indication that Hamas was considering launching a full-scale war. The Fatah official and the advisor reportedly ultimately passed the warning directly to Shin Bet in mid-September. Israeli security services held meetings and evaluated the information in the following days; however, they did not perceive it as a warning of an imminent attack from Gaza, and no concrete decisions were taken.
Netanyahu reportedly informed no one
The lack of reaction from the Israeli side reportedly alarmed Mohammed bin Zayed so much that he decided to contact Netanyahu directly. According to the report, the Israeli prime minister treated the threat as limited and took no action, failing to inform security chiefs about his conversation with the UAE leader. The report notes that on October 1, the head of Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, had again proposed preemptive action against Hamas, including the targeted liquidation of senior operatives. Netanyahu, however, reached no decision on the proposals, stating only that the agency should present its options for him to examine, making no mention of his conversation with Mohammed bin Zayed.
"It could have changed the entire intelligence picture"
A senior Shin Bet official told Haaretz that if the agency had known about the warning from Mohammed bin Zayed, it might have evaluated the intelligence already in its possession differently. "If we knew about the warnings, there is a possibility we would have placed much greater weight on the initial message that reached us from Sinwar," he stated. "It might also have become clearer what lay behind his sudden withdrawal from de-escalation talks in early September; it is possible we would have joined the two pieces together and reached a completely different conclusion, one that might have changed our entire intelligence picture."
Netanyahu's office denies everything
The Prime Minister's Office of Israel flatly rejected the report. In its response to the newspaper, it characterized the report as "an absolute lie! Prime Minister Netanyahu did not speak with the president of the United Arab Emirates during the period in question and received no warning from him."
Yair Golan: Netanyahu's place is in prison
The leader of The Democrats party, Yair Golan, launched a fierce attack against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the report that Netanyahu had received a warning from the United Arab Emirates about Hamas plans to launch an attack days before October 7. "Netanyahu is unfit and illegitimate. His place is in prison for his crimes against the State of Israel," Golan wrote on the X platform. "The 'they didn't wake me up' stories are over; he knew, he was warned," stated Golan. "In letters written with the blood of thousands of Israelis—civilians and fallen IDF soldiers—we wake up today to another chilling realization: the man serving as Prime Minister of Israel abandoned his core responsibilities," he argued. "The investigation revealing that Netanyahu received a clear warning from the president of the United Arab Emirates and deliberately concealed it from the military leadership and Shin Bet shatters all the lies he told us; he was warned repeatedly, the security apparatus warned him, and we warned him too—the hundreds of thousands of democrats who took to the squares, bridges, and streets shouting: 'You are placing Israel in danger and leading us to catastrophe.'" "He called us anarchists... He chose his own political survival alongside draft dodgers and extremists," Golan concluded.
Bennett: "UAE warning to Netanyahu about Hamas plans was real"
Former Prime Minister of Israel Naftali Bennett stated today that the report by Haaretz is "true." In a post on the X platform, the leader of the B'Yachad party stated: "The report published this morning, according to which Netanyahu was warned 10 days before the October 7 massacre about Sinwar's intentions, is true. Netanyahu bears personal and direct responsibility for the failure that led to the deaths of thousands of Israelis under his governance." Bennett did not specify how he knows the report to be factual.
"His indifference to warnings constitutes criminal negligence"
Netanyahu's rival argues that his "indifference to warnings equals criminal negligence," which, as he says, explains why the prime minister is doing everything he can to block the establishment of a state commission of inquiry that would uncover the truth. Bennett added: "He did not go down to the field, he did not warn the heads of the security apparatus, he did not prepare Israel for an attack, and he did not convene the cabinet." Bennett then posed the question of what Netanyahu was doing in the days before the attack. "What was he doing in those days? Keeping Hamas sufficiently supplied in order to stop the protests along the border fence, transferring additional funds to buy quiet, promising extra work permits to Palestinian workers in response to Hamas threats, and, as usual, dismissing all warnings from the heads of the security apparatus."
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