The New York Times reported on 25 September that UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed warned Benjamin Netanyahu in late September 2023 of a planned Hamas attack, backing Haaretz's 8 September report.
Five former senior Israeli officials involved in security assessments told the Times the warning never reached Israel's security leadership. Netanyahu denies receiving it and has ordered his lawyers to sue Haaretz for libel.
Two people told the Times they had spoken with, or been briefed by, someone on the call. Mohammed bin Zayed later raised the call with CIA Director William Burns, according to a person familiar with that discussion, the Times reported.
The Times described the warning as vague, saying it didn't specify whether Hamas was preparing rocket fire or a ground invasion. Haaretz reported that the Emirati president warned Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was preparing a major operation.
Netanyahu met his security chiefs on 1 October 2023, six days before the attack. Minutes of the meeting show he told them the goal should be to maintain calm in Gaza and opposed strikes on Hamas leaders, citing the prospect of Saudi normalisation, the Times reported.
Netanyahu didn't mention the Emirati warning at that meeting, the five former officials told the Times.
Netanyahu told the Times he never received a phone call warning and that any Emirati intelligence would have reached Israel through intelligence channels. The UAE Foreign Ministry didn't respond to the Times.
An Emirati source confirmed the call to the Times of Israel on 8 September.
Netanyahu is seeking a seventh term in Israel's 27 October election. Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party and Naftali Bennett have pledged a state commission of inquiry into the 7 October failures.
