Netanyahu asks UAE president to deny report on Oct. 7 warning during secret visit: Report

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed during a secret meeting Sunday to deny a report that he had warned Netanyahu of an imminent Hamas attack before Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Monday.

Netanyahu asked bin Zayed to deny reports about their phone conversation and details surrounding the events before Oct. 7 that “could embarrass him,” Haaretz said, citing unspecified sources.

The Israeli premier also asked the Emirati president for what one source described as “moral support,” the newspaper reported.

Netanyahu held an hour-long meeting with bin Zayed, according to two people briefed on the trip.

Israeli and Emirati authorities had not officially confirmed the reported visit.

The report came amid controversy over a series of media disclosures concerning intelligence warnings Netanyahu allegedly received ahead of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.

On Friday, The New York Times reported that Netanyahu had received a confidential warning from the UAE president before the Hamas attack but had not passed it on to Israel’s security chiefs.

Netanyahu has led Israel’s current government since late 2022. In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Since Oct. 8, 2023, Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians and injured more than 175,000, most of them women and children, while damaging 90% of the territory’s infrastructure.