Netanyahu: Egyptian intel chief was in Israel before Oct. 7, he didn’t meet with me

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirms reports that Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel secretly flew to Israel days before the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack.

“He didn’t meet with me,” claims Netanyahu, “because I was in a memorial ceremony for IDF soldiers at that time.”

“He didn’t meet with me, he didn’t speak with me,” he continues. “When does an intelligence chief meet with a head of state?”

Kamel reportedly told Israeli officials that Hamas was planning a major attack if Israel didn’t agree to a deal including a prisoner release and economic concessions.

Netanyahu claims he doesn’t know who Kamel met with: “The head of the Egyptian intelligence was here. He spent something like 50 minutes on the ground. I want to know who he met,” he says.

When reports of the warning came out, Netanyahu said in a statement, “No early message came from Egypt and the prime minister did not speak or meet with the intelligence chief since the establishment of the government — not indirectly or directly.”

The reports about Kamel are among a series of allegations that Netanyahu received early warnings of a major attack from Gaza in the lead-up to October 7, but did not act on them. Netanyahu has flatly denied the reports and blamed the security establishment for the failures surrounding the attack.