Information that the President of the United Arab Emirates warned Netanyahu before October 7

The details of a personal conversation between President Mohammed bin Zayed and Netanyahu shortly before the massacre recently dropped like a bombshell in the Israeli election campaign.

The most serious thing, in the eyes of Israelis, is that Netanyahu did not inform the military leadership, but on the contrary waved off the warning.

As soon as the news of the conversation broke, Netanyahu's office begged the court in Abu Dhabi to deny the information. But the only reaction from there was that "we regularly exchange information".

On Wednesday evening, N12, Israel's most watched television channel, quoted two "highly placed" Emirati sources as confirming that the president's warning had been received by Netanyahu. Israel Radio, backed by "several American sources," reported Thursday that bin Zayed told then-CIA chief Bill Burns about his warning to Netanyahu. The emir warned of an imminent risk of violence on the part of Hamas that "could plunge the region into chaos."

Netanyahu and his staff deny that any phone call was recorded at the government office. But Yoav Gallant, who was defense minister in October 2023, says that it often happened that Netanyahu negotiated with foreign leaders without this being recorded.

According to Gallant, the warning from Emir bin Zayed would have been taken very seriously if it reached the military leadership. On those very days, Israeli forces were moved from the Gaza border to the West Bank, which facilitated Hamas' storming of the border on October 7.

Haaretz's long article on the matter is an excerpt from a new book, written by Ruth Yuval and Shlomi Eldar. Netanyahu has given the newspaper three days to apologize and pay three million kroner. Otherwise, he will sue Haaretz and demand damages of eight million kroner. The newspaper stands by the information about the warning from bin Zayed.

President bin Zayed would welcome a change of power in Jerusalem after the autumn elections.

Israel and the United Arab Emirates have close security cooperation. But the federation of seven emirates has been indirectly affected in the past year by Israel's policies. Partly physically, as Iran sends missiles towards its territory, partly PR-wise. The emirate is the only Arab country with cordial relations with Israel, including tourism, arms trade and technical cooperation. But the widespread Israeli abuses against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank are a burden for the regime, which is aware of its own population's growing concern about the Palestinians.

President bin Zayed would welcome a change of power in Jerusalem after the autumn elections. The personal relations between him and Netanyahu were already damaged in May this year, when the leaders agreed to meet in the utmost secrecy, but Netanyahu still leaked information about the meeting.