Israeli opposition leaders say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unfit to serve after a bombshell report that the United Arab Emirates had warned him before the October 7 Hamas attack in 2023.
Haaretz newspaper, in a report excerpted from a forthcoming book by its reporters, said UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan spoke to Netanyahu a week and a half before the attack and told him that Hamas was planning a major operation.
Netanyahu’s office denied the report by the left-leaning newspaper, saying late Tuesday: “No warning was given to the Prime Minister from the United Arab Emirates before October 7”.
The UAE foreign ministry said it did not comment on media speculation but acknowledged “open and direct lines of communication” since Abu Dhabi established relations with Israel.
“When necessary, all relevant intelligence has been and continues to be communicated between the relevant entities.”
Gadi Eisenkot, a former military commander who has emerged as Netanyahu’s top rival in October 27 elections, accused the long-serving leader of evading responsibility for security lapses and resorting to “pathetic” excuses, such as saying he was not woken up soon enough on the morning of the attack.
Eisenkot wrote on X: “Netanyahu received dozens of warnings for October 7 and ignored them all. He is unfit.”
Naftali Bennett, a former prime minister also running in the elections, said Netanyahu “bears personal and direct responsibility” for the deaths on October 7, the deadliest attack in Israeli history.
“Netanyahu cannot continue to serve in his position for even one more minute.”
The leader of the centre-left Democrats Party, Yair Golan, accused Netanyahu of “endangering Israel”, saying: “The stories about ‘no one woke me up’ are over. You knew, you ignored, you failed, you are to blame.”
Opposition parties have said they would quickly establish an independent commission of inquiry into October 7 security lapses if they take power.
Netanyahu has rejected the proposal, instead setting up a probe by his own Government.
Haaretz said that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, later killed by Israel, had warned a former Palestinian official that the militants were preparing “a terrifying operation” which he described as an “earthquake”.
The former Palestinian official relayed the message to an Emirati adviser, who passed it on to the Emirati leader who then called Netanyahu, according to the newspaper.
The UAE normalised ties with Israel in 2020 as part of the US-brokered Abraham Accords during President Donald Trump’s first administration.
Netanyahu sees the UAE relationship as a key achievement, with the oil-rich Gulf nation maintaining robust ties with Israel even as much of the world criticises its relentless offensive on Gaza.
The newspaper, quoting mostly anonymous sources, said that Netanyahu replied calmly to the warning.
Another Israeli newspaper, the Yediot Ahronoth, reported last year that intelligence officials in Egypt, the only other country to border Gaza, had warned Israel that “something big is going to happen” shortly before the attack.
Netanyahu for years had sought to preserve the status quo with Hamas, which would receive funding via Qatar with an understanding the Islamist group was more interested in self-preservation than a devastating war with Israel.
Netanyahu has long instead focused on weakening the Palestinian Authority, led by Hamas’ rivals, as part of his opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state.
Hamas on October 7 stormed into Israel in a rampage that included mass killing at a music festival.
The attack killed 1221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. The militants also dragged into Gaza 251 hostages, 44 of them already dead.
The massive Israeli offensive in response has left most of Gaza in ruins and killed 73,658 people, according to the Gaza health ministry, which is under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.
- AFP