Netanyahu Institutes Court Action Against Israeli Newspaper Over Reports UAE Warned Prime Minister Before October 7 Att∆ck
Netanyahu Institutes Court Action Against Israeli Newspaper Over Reports UAE Warned Prime Minister Before October 7 Attack
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a press conference at the Prime ministers office in Jerusalem on August 10, 2025. Netanyahu said on August 10 that his government had no plans to occupy Gaza, while vowing to create safe corridors for aid. (Photo by ABIR SULTAN / POOL / AFP)
The Israeli prime minister said his office, the National Security Council and his military secretary had reviewed his call records for the period and found no evidence of such a conversation.
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has ordered his lawyers to file a libel lawsuit against Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, journalist Shlomi Eldar and other parties over a report alleging that United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan personally warned him about a planned Hamas attack before the October 7, 2023 massacre.
Netanyahu, in a statement posted on his official X account on Wednesday, described the report as a “malicious fabrication” and insisted that no conversation took place between him and the UAE president between the beginning of September and October 7, 2023.
The Israeli prime minister said his office, the National Security Council and his military secretary had reviewed his call records for the period and found no evidence of such a conversation.
“The Prime Minister has instructed his lawyers to file a libel lawsuit against the left-wing newspaper ‘Haaretz’, Shlomi Eldar, and additional parties who fabricated a false story against the Prime Minister that never happened and was never created,” Netanyahu said.
He also rejected the suggestion that the UAE president could have contacted him through an undocumented channel.
“Contrary to the claims, from the beginning of September until October 7, no conversation took place between the Prime Minister and the President of the United Arab Emirates,” he said.
Netanyahu explained that diplomatic conversations between him and the Emirati president were conducted through the Prime Minister’s Office using an Emirati representative who arrived at the office with a special encrypted communication device.
According to him, such conversations were formally documented.
Netanyahu further challenged Eldar’s account of the alleged warning, saying the journalist himself had acknowledged in a television interview that the purported conversation took place through the same mechanism.
He said his office had not only checked his call records but had also examined records of visitors entering the Prime Minister’s Office during the period.
“A thorough investigation conducted not only in the Prime Minister’s call log but also in the records of entries to the Prime Minister’s Office during that period shows no entry of the Emirati representative to the Prime Minister’s Office,” Netanyahu said.
“There is no possibility of entering the Prime Minister’s Office without documentation and recording by the security forces at the facility.”
The Israeli leader also denied another allegation contained in the Haaretz report that Egypt had separately warned him about an impending Hamas operation.
Netanyahu described the claim as another falsehood, saying it had already been debunked shortly after the outbreak of the war.
He accused Haaretz and its sources of deliberately manufacturing the allegations for political purposes ahead of Israel’s elections.
“All this proves that we are dealing with a malicious fabrication with a clear political timing, as part of the left’s election campaign, and there will be more such false stories,” Netanyahu said.
The latest development follows a Haaretz investigation that claimed Netanyahu received multiple warnings in the weeks leading up to Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack but failed to take adequate action.
According to the report, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed personally contacted Netanyahu approximately 10 days before the attack and warned him that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was preparing a major operation against Israel.
The alleged 45-minute conversation reportedly included a warning that a major Hamas assault could cause significant bloodshed, destabilise the region and threaten the Abraham Accords, which established diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab countries.
The report alleged that Netanyahu responded that Israel was prepared for any scenario and indicated that he believed the greater threat could come from Hamas activity in the West Bank.
Haaretz also reported that Netanyahu did not subsequently inform senior Israeli security officials about the alleged direct warning.
The newspaper said former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and former Israel Defence Forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi told its investigators that they were not informed about any warning from the UAE president.
The report further claimed that intelligence concerning Sinwar’s plans had reached Israeli authorities through a Palestinian intermediary who maintained contacts with both Hamas and Israeli officials.
According to the investigation, messages attributed to Sinwar in September 2023 referred to an impending “earthquake” and described the planned operation as “the mother of all surprises” and “a terrifying operation.”
The information was reportedly passed to UAE authorities before being communicated to Israel’s Shin Bet on September 15, 2023.
The Haaretz investigation said Bar subsequently briefed Netanyahu about the intelligence and that senior Israeli defence officials held a security assessment two days later.
The controversy has also drawn intervention from former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who has publicly backed the central allegation against Netanyahu.
Bennett previously said the report that Netanyahu was warned about Sinwar’s plans approximately 10 days before the massacre was true.
He accused Netanyahu of bearing “personal and direct responsibility” for the security failures that preceded the attack.
