Netanyahu under fire over report UAE warned of Oct 7 attack

Israeli opposition leaders have accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being unfit to serve after a report revealed that the UAE had warned him about the Oct 7, 2023 Hamas attack in advance. Haaretz newspaper cited an upcoming book by its reporters, stating that UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan informed Netanyahu a week and a half before the attack that Hamas was planning a major operation.

However, Netanyahu's office dismissed the report as an "absolute lie" and denied any communication with the Emirati leader at that time.

Gadi Eisenkot, a former military commander and top rival of Netanyahu in the upcoming Oct 27 elections, criticized the prime minister for evading responsibility for security failures and making weak excuses, such as claiming he was not woken up in time on the morning of the attack. Naftali Bennett, another former prime minister and candidate in the elections, stated that Netanyahu bears "personal and direct responsibility" for the deaths on Oct 7, which was the deadliest attack in Israeli history.

Haaretz reported that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar had warned a former Palestinian official about the militants preparing a "terrifying operation," which they described as an "earthquake." The former official relayed this information to an Emirati advisor, who then passed it on to the UAE leader, who subsequently contacted Netanyahu. The UAE normalized relations with Israel in 2020 through the US-brokered Abraham Accords during Trump's administration, an achievement that Netanyahu views with pride.