Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed his lawyers to sue Haaretz and journalist Shlomi Eldar after the newspaper reported that the UAE president personally warned him of a major Hamas operation days before the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday he has ordered his attorneys to file a libel lawsuit against Haaretz, journalist Shlomi Eldar and others involved in a report alleging that he received a direct warning from the president of the United Arab Emirates shortly before the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack.
Netanyahu has categorically denied the account, which surfaced as Israel heads toward its Oct. 27 election and questions surrounding the intelligence and political failures preceding Oct. 7 return to the center of the campaign.
“This is a sinister libel with clear political timing, as part of the left’s election campaign, and there will be more such false libels,” Netanyahu said.
The disputed report alleges UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed spoke with Netanyahu for approximately 45 minutes about 10 days before the Hamas assault and warned that then-Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was preparing a major operation against Israel. According to the account, Netanyahu responded calmly and indicated that Israel was prepared for possible attacks.
Netanyahu’s office says the conversation never happened.
“A thorough examination not only of the Prime Minister’s call log, but also of the records of entries into the Prime Minister’s Office during this period, does not show any entry of the Emirati representative into the Prime Minister’s Office,” the PMO said.
The Prime Minister’s Office said its review, along with checks by the National Security Council and military secretariat, found no record of contact between Netanyahu and bin Zayed from the beginning of September 2023 through Oct. 7. Netanyahu’s office said communications between the two leaders normally take place through a special encrypted device brought to the Prime Minister’s Office by an Emirati representative, creating records that officials say are absent for the period in question.
Haaretz has stood by its reporting. The underlying allegation was drawn from reporting connected to a book by Eldar and journalist Ruth Yuval examining the period before and after the Hamas attack. The account cites numerous sources in Israel and abroad and alleges that the warning was not passed to senior Israeli security officials.
The UAE Foreign Ministry has not publicly confirmed that the reported conversation occurred.
The dispute has quickly become part of Israel’s election campaign. Former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Democrats leader Yair Golan have cited the report while criticizing Netanyahu’s handling of warnings preceding the attack. Netanyahu and his allies have maintained that senior security officials failed to provide him with critical warning information before Hamas launched the assault.
Hamas-led terrorists killed roughly 1,200 people in Israel and abducted 251 hostages on Oct. 7, 2023. The attack triggered the Gaza war and years of scrutiny over how Israeli intelligence, military and political leaders failed to anticipate or prevent the assault.
The allegation involving bin Zayed is particularly significant because the UAE established formal relations with Israel through the Abraham Accords, creating close diplomatic and security ties between the two governments.
Netanyahu’s decision to pursue legal action now shifts part of the dispute from political accusations and competing accounts into a potential defamation case, where the credibility and sourcing behind the reported warning could come under further scrutiny.
For now, the central claims remain directly contested: Haaretz maintains that Netanyahu was personally warned by the Emirati leader before Oct. 7, while Netanyahu says no such conversation occurred and is moving to sue those responsible for publishing the allegation.
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