UAE official on reported Oct. 7 warning to Netanyahu: We do not ‘discuss such details at the level of national leaders’

Responding to a report that United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of October 7, 2023, that Hamas was planning a major attack, a UAE official says the country does not discuss such matters at that level.

An Emirati source familiar with the conversation confirmed the Haaretz newspaper’s report to The Times of Israel that some 10 days before Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Netanyahu was personally warned by the leader of the United Arab Emirates that Hamas was planning a major offensive move against Israel, but did not update Israeli security leaders and did nothing with the information.

The UAE itself declined to confirm or deny the report when it was released, issuing a statement that noted “open lines of communication” with Israel through which “all relevant intelligence has been and continues to be communicated.”

Netanyahu denied the report and said he would sue Haaretz, but has yet to officially do so.

Responding to a query from the state-owned Emirati outlet The National, a UAE official does not outright deny that Netanyahu was warned, however, saying only that the “UAE discusses security matters with other countries through the relevant entities, and does not discuss such details at the level of national leaders.”

Hebrew-language outlet Ynet reports that the Emirati statement is the result of days of pressure from Israel for the UAE to deny the contents of the Haaretz report.