Benjamin Netanyahu drew sharp political criticism after a published account said the president of the United Arab Emirates alerted him to a large Hamas operation several days before the Oct. 7, 2023, assault. According to CNN, the Prime Minister’s Office called the report “an absolute lie.” Rivals treated the story as another item on a list of warnings they say went unheeded, with national elections set for October, less than two months away.
Haaretz carried the account, which rested on material prepared for a forthcoming book by journalists Shlomi Eldar and Ruti Yuval. The newspaper said UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed telephoned Netanyahu roughly 10 days before Oct. 7. In a conversation described as lasting 45 minutes, Bin Zayed was said to have cautioned that Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, intended a major action against Israel that could produce bloodshed and unsettle the region.
