Netanyahu Flew to UAE to Ask Its Leader to Deny a 7 October Warning Report, AP Says

Benjamin Netanyahu flew to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday and spent an hour asking President Mohamed bin Zayed to publicly deny that he had warned Israel in advance of the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack, according to a report by the Associated Press cited by Middle East Eye.

The visit followed a Haaretz story, drawn from an upcoming book, reporting that Zayed had told Netanyahu Israel should be ready for a major Hamas operation. The Emirati leader also reportedly urged Netanyahu to pursue an economic solution for Gaza and to calm tensions in the occupied West Bank, where settler attacks on Palestinians have continued largely without consequence.

The UAE's state news agency WAM confirmed on Monday evening that Zayed received Netanyahu and that the two discussed strengthening bilateral relations. It did not address the substance of the warning allegation.

"We know that Egypt has warned the Israelis three days prior that an event like this could happen."

That line, from Republican Congressman Michael McCaul days after the attack, is one of several threads tying Netanyahu to advance-warning claims he has long denied. The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic have separately reported that Abbas Kamel, then Egypt's intelligence chief, personally warned Netanyahu before 7 October. The Associated Press reported at the time that Egypt had flagged "something big" brewing in Gaza.

Netanyahu has moved to discredit each account. After the Haaretz story, he said the source was Mohammed Dahlan, an exiled Fatah politician and UAE ally who has been floated in Emirati-backed plans for postwar Gaza governance.

The trip is not the first time Netanyahu's office and Abu Dhabi have diverged publicly. In May, the UAE foreign ministry disputed a claim from Netanyahu's office that he had held a secret meeting with Zayed during the height of Israel's fighting with Iran, a meeting Netanyahu's office described as producing a "historic breakthrough." The ministry called any claim of an unannounced visit "entirely unfounded unless officially announced."

The lobbying trip lands roughly a month before Israeli elections that could end Netanyahu's tenure. Five opposition parties have agreed to coordinate against him. At the same time, Israel's Central Elections Committee voted last week to ban the country's two main Arab-majority party lists and bar two Joint List candidates from the ballot, a decision the Supreme Court can still overturn.

The underlying question, whether Netanyahu had actionable warning of the 7 October attack and downplayed it, remains unresolved. What is documented is that he traveled personally to ask a foreign head of state to help shut the story down.