Netanyahu calls for criminal probe into journalists who reported UAE’s Oct. 7 warning, and his inaction

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party accuses Haaretz and Democrats party leader Yair Golan of allowing “blatant foreign interference in Israel’s elections” in the wake of an article in Haaretz alleging that the United Arab Emirates warned the premier ahead of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, and did not act on the information.

It also calls for a criminal investigation against Golan and the journalists who wrote the story.

The Likud statement posted on X by Netanyahu does not cite any evidence for its claims, including allegations of Golan’s involvement in the article’s publication. It alleges that the report was politically motivated.

The statement claims that exiled senior Palestinian official Muhammad Dahlan, who allegedly was involved in the reported conversation between UAE President Mohamed Bin Zayed and Netanyahu, is “interested in toppling the right-wing government led by Netanyahu because he dreams of taking control of the Gaza Strip.”

“To do so, he needs a weak left-wing government of Eisenkot, Yair Golan, Lieberman and the Arab parties,” Likud claims. “Such a government would withdraw from Gaza and hand it over to his control.”

The party says, without citing evidence, that the journalist Shlomi Eldar, who broke the story about the conversation, “received payment from a left-wing nonprofit associated with Yair Golan’s Democrats party, to spread his blood libel.”

Netanyahu’s party also raises the possibility, again without evidence, that Golan and former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar’s recent reported visit to the UAE could be connected to the Haaretz report.

“Likud demands the opening of a criminal investigation against Shlomi Eldar, Ruth Yuval, the newspaper Haaretz, Yair Golan, and the Democrats party,” says Netanyahu’s post, “due to suspicion of attempting to disrupt the elections with foreign entities.”