Netanyahu dismissed UAE president's warning about Hamas attack days before Oct. 7: report

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed's warning about a Hamas attack days before Oct. 7, 2023, and didn't inform his security officials, according to a Tuesday report. MBZ had a 45-minute phone call with Netanyahu in late September, some 10 days before the attack, warning him that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was planning a major operation against Israel that would result in death, unsettle the region, and potentially harm the Abraham Accords, three senior foreign officials told journalists Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval, according to their book, 'Kidnapped: 843 Days of Abandonment,' published in the Haaretz newspaper, the Times of Israel reported. According to the report, MBZ was surprised by Netanyahu's sanguine response during the call, with the Israeli premier saying that his government was on top of things in Gaza, that any Hamas action would likely occur in the West Bank, and that Israel was prepared for anything. The Oct. 7 cross-border, multipronged assault by Hamas resulted in 1,200 people killed and 251 hostages taken to Gaza, starting the nearly three-year war. MBZ became aware of the Hamas threat from Sinwar, who had been frustrated by the lack of progress in negotiations for a Palestinian prisoner release deal with Israel. Israel reportedly sought to hide its "virtually direct" talks with Hamas in summer 2023, during which the terrorist group initially sought the release of 500 prisoners in exchange for hostages, according to the report. Sinwar then accepted the release of 50 prisoners, while the Israel Security Agency, known as Shin Bet, was leaning toward accepting the release of 30, with 20 of them serving life sentences, which Netanyahu approved. The prime minister repeatedly delayed convening the ministerial committee for hostages and missing persons, which needed to approve the prisoner release, an Israeli security source told the journalists. Shin Bet officials managing the talks said that the delay was a result of Netanyahu's fear of leaks to the media. In early September 2023, amid the breakdown in the talks, Sinwar cut off contact with negotiators. A senior Shin Bet official told Haaretz that Sinwar 'vanished from our radar, evaporated.' Sinwar held two private meetings with a senior Palestinian National Liberation Movement interlocutor referred to as 'Coal Eyes,' who was part of the negotiations, in which the terrorist leader told him to warn the Israelis of the consequences if they did not move forward on a deal. 'Tell the Israelis if they don't advance, I'm preparing a huge surprise for them,' Sinwar was quoted as saying in a conversation with Coal Eyes. 'Tell them to expect a zilzal, an earthquake.' 'It was clear to [Coal Eyes] that the operation Sinwar was talking about could affect the entire Middle East, but he was afraid to report the information directly to the Shin Bet. On the other hand, he was even more terrified that if he didn't update the Shin Bet, the Israelis might accuse him of collaborating with Sinwar. He genuinely feared for his life. Therefore, he decided to convey the message to Bin Zayed,' the journalists wrote. In Sinwar's second meeting with Coal Eyes, the Hamas leader said he was preparing 'a formidable operation.' Sinwar added that it would be 'the mother of all surprises. A terrifying operation. Something extraordinary,' again reportedly using the word zilzal. Coal Eyes informed MBZ of the details of his meeting with Sinwar, who took the threat to mean Hamas was intending to launch a war. MBZ's adviser and Coal Eyes warned Shin Bet in mid-September. Israeli security officials held meetings about the warning in the following days, but did not view it as a threat of an assault from Gaza, and no decisions were made. 'Why did Sinwar send us a warning?' a senior Israeli intelligence official rhetorically asked afterwards, according to the report. 'Either it was because he grew tired of Israel's foot-dragging, wanting to pressure us into an arrangement and not so eager to start a war. Or, as we prefer to think, it was part of his 'Great Deception' plan, and he wanted to test the [Israel Defense Forces'] readiness,' he added. Due to the lack of reaction, MBZ then had a phone call with Netanyahu, who was apparently dismissive of the threat. 'The emir explained that, in his assessment, Sinwar was preparing for a major event,' said MBZ's adviser, who was present, according to Haaretz. 'He told Netanyahu that Israel should be ready. Concurrently, he recommended trying to find an economic solution for the Strip and calming the West Bank to prevent escalation.' MBZ also told then-CIA Director William J. Burns of the warning, and said that he had tried to convince Netanyahu that 'something there is about to explode.' On Oct. 1, then-Shin Bet head Ronen Baragain proposed proactive action against Hamas, including the assassination of top officials, according to the report. Netanyahu did not make a decision on the issue, saying that the agency should present its proposals and he would consider them. The prime minister didn't mention his talk with MBZ, per the report. 'If we had known about the warnings, there's a chance it would have given much greater weight to the initial message that reached us from Sinwar,' a senior Shin Bet official told Haaretz. 'Perhaps it would have also clarified what was behind his sudden withdrawal from the de-escalation talks in early September. It's possible we would have put two and two together and reached a completely different conclusion from the one we arrived at, one that might have altered our entire intelligence picture.' Netanyahu's office told Haaretz that the report is 'a total lie! Prime Minister Netanyahu did not speak with the president of the United Arab Emirates during the period in question and received no warning from him.' Bar and then-IDF chief of staff Halevi told Haaretz they had not been informed of MBZ's warning. MBZ did not respond to the newspaper's request for comment. Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, whose political party is running against Netanyahu's in this year's elections, posted on X on Tuesday, "The report this morning stating that Netanyahu was warned ten days before the October 7 massacre about Sinwar's intentions - true. "Netanyahu bears personal and direct responsibility for the failure that led to the deaths of thousands of Israelis on his watch. His ignoring of the warnings is criminal negligence, and therefore he is doing everything to prevent the establishment of a state commission of inquiry that will expose the truth," he continued. "What did he not do in response? He did not go to the field, did not warn the heads of the security system, did not prepare Israel for the attack, and did not convene the cabinet. "What did he do in those days? He fattened Hamas to stop the demonstrations that were allowed at the fence, transferred more funds to buy a bit of quiet, promised more workers as a result of Hamas threats, and as is his habit - dismissed all the warnings from the heads of the security system," Bennett added. Netanyahu earlier this week denounced Israel's security chiefs for purportedly choosing not to wake him in the hours before the Hamas attack when, he said, 'all the signs were there' that the terrorist group was about to invade, and claimed he would have immediately mobilized the IDF to ensure that Oct. 7 'would not have taken place.' Israel's Channel 12 reported on Friday that Netanyahu took at least two hours to leave his Caesarea home and head to the IDF's Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv after being told that Hamas-led terrorists were attacking Israel at 6:29 a.m. on Oct. 7. Netanyahu did not contact the heads of the IDF and Shin Bet in that time, or en route to Tel Aviv, according to the TV report. The prime minister's published schedule shows that he ordered the Gaza border closed and a full IDF mobilization at 9:55 a.m.