UAE official denies Abu Dhabi's MBZ warned Netanyahu of large-scale attack ahead of Oct. 7 - report

An official source in the United Arab Emirates rejected claims on Saturday evening that UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ) had spoken with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and warned him of a possible Hamas attack in the weeks leading up to October 7, 2023.

“The UAE discusses security matters with other countries through the relevant bodies, and does not discuss details of this kind at the level of the leaders of the countries,” the official said in response to an inquiry from Abu Dhabi's state-owned English-language newspaper, The National.

The outlet described the statement as rejecting recent claims that a direct warning had been conveyed to Netanyahu.

The statement is the clearest response from the UAE to date to the controversy sparked by an investigation published by Haaretz, which claimed that about a week and a half before the Hamas attack, MBZ called Netanyahu and warned him that Yahya Sinwar, then-leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, was planning a significant move against Israel.

According to the investigation, the call lasted approximately 45 minutes, and the information was not subsequently passed on to the heads of Israel’s security establishment.

The Prime Minister’s Office denied the report from the outset, saying that no conversation between Netanyahu and MBZ had taken place during the period in question and that the prime minister had not received any warning from him.

Netanyahu also announced that he intended to file a libel lawsuit against Haaretz and the authors of the investigation.

New response follows cautious, noncommittal statement from UAE

The new response from Abu Dhabi comes after the UAE Foreign Ministry issued a more cautious statement on September 8.

At the time, the ministry declined to confirm or deny that the conversation had taken place, saying that the government does not comment on “reports or speculation” regarding conversations between leaders. At the same time, it emphasized that direct lines of communication exist between Israeli and Emirati authorities, and that relevant intelligence is shared, when necessary, between the appropriate bodies.

In recent weeks, the issue has become a major focus of Israel’s political debate ahead of the elections, particularly over which warnings reached the political leadership before the October 7 attack, who was exposed to them, and whether they were passed on to security officials.

The National also noted in its latest report that the affair has taken on particular significance against the backdrop of the election campaign and the parties’ focus on security issues.