Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is threatening legal action after a book and a newspaper report alleged he received a warning from the United Arab Emirates president about an impending Hamas attack a week and a half before October 7, 2023. Netanyahu rejected the claim as an absolute lie amid upcoming national elections.
The explosive allegation surfaced in a book by Haaretz reporters Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval titled Hostages: 843 Days of Abandonment. According to the publication, United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan reached out to the Israeli leader roughly a week and a half before the October 7, 2023 terrorist attacks to warn him of a large-scale offensive.
The 45-Minute Presidential Call and the Warnings Within
The reported communication involved a secure telephone delivered directly to the Israeli prime minister by a UAE diplomat, facilitating frequent discussions between bin Zayed, Netanyahu, and Israeli President Isaac Herzog. In a 45-minute phone conversation placed from the presidential palace in Abu Dhabi, bin Zayed warned that then-Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was orchestrating a major operation.
The Emirati leader expressed grave concern that the planned offensive would trigger widespread bloodshed, destabilize the wider region, and dismantle the Abraham Accords, which established formal normalization agreements between Israel and several Arab and Muslim-majority nations. Despite the urgency of the message, the Times of Israel independently confirmed through an unidentified Emirati source that bin Zayed had contacted Netanyahu just days prior to the assault to sound the alarm.
To the surprise of the Emirati president, the Israeli prime minister reacted with relative calm. Netanyahu reportedly assured bin Zayed that the country was fully prepared for any scenario, suggesting that any prospective security threat was more likely to originate in the occupied West Bank rather than the Gaza Strip.
Denials, Legal Threats, and Political Fallout in Israel
Netanyahu’s office forcefully rejected the allegations, labeling the account an absolute lie
and maintaining that no such phone call occurred with the Emirati president during September or early October 2023. His legal team has since written to the publishing newspaper to threaten a libel suit, though Haaretz has maintained that it stands by its investigative reporting.
The UAE Foreign Ministry declined to address the specifics of the media reports, stating that it would not comment on speculation regarding conversations between government leaders
and emphasizing that both nations have maintained open and direct lines of communication since establishing formal ties five years ago.
With national elections scheduled for next month, the timing of the leak has intensified pressure on the long-serving prime minister, who has consistently rejected demands for an official state commission of inquiry into the security failures of October 7. Opposition leaders seized on the disclosures to demand immediate accountability.
“Netanyahu bears personal and direct responsibility for the failure that led to the deaths of thousands of Israelis on his watch.”
Naftali Bennett, via ABC News
Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief and leader of the centrist Yashar party who serves as Netanyahu’s primary electoral rival, asserted on social media that He is unfit for office, arguing that the prime minister ignored dozens of preceding warnings.
Ongoing Conflict and Regional Stakes
The political storm unfolds against the backdrop of a prolonged and devastating regional conflict. The initial October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people and the abduction of 251 hostages. Israel’s subsequent retaliatory military campaign across Gaza has left more than 73,650 Palestinians dead, according to figures from the Gaza Health Ministry.
Although a US-backed ceasefire took effect in October 2025, sporadic violence continues to test the fragile arrangement. Recent strikes in Gaza City have killed multiple Palestinians, while Hamas accuses Israel of violating the ceasefire terms and obstructing wider plans for troop withdrawals and disarmament backed by Washington.
