'An absolute lie': Netanyahu sues over reports Arab allies warned him
Accounts say the UAE president called and Egypt's intelligence chief travelled to Israel before October 7, 2023 to warn of danger from Gaza. Netanyahu calls the reports a lie and has sued Israeli outlets, as the third anniversary puts responsibility for the attack at the centre of the election.
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by Sami Haddad
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The UAE president called Benjamin Netanyahu to warn of a major Hamas operation, and Egypt's intelligence chief flew to Israel with an alarm of his own, according to reports now confronting the Israeli prime minister three weeks before an election. Netanyahu calls the accounts "an absolute lie" and has sued Israeli outlets that published them. On the third anniversary of October 7, the dispute reaches directly into his defence of his conduct before the deadliest day in Israel's history.
Four people in the Middle East with direct knowledge told NPR that Netanyahu was personally warned and that his security agencies received repeated alerts in the weeks and days before the attack. The accounts remain unconfirmed by Egypt or the UAE. Netanyahu denies receiving the warnings and says he did not speak to the Emirati president during the period in question.
The argument also runs through Israel's own security establishment. Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar says he warned Netanyahu "of an impending disaster, and he ignored me". Bar has said he will sue the prime minister for defamation. His allegation and Netanyahu's denial now sit alongside the accounts from Arab officials, with no state commission of inquiry established to examine the failures.
Israel votes on October 27. A Channel 12 poll published on October 6 put Netanyahu's coalition on 49 seats and the opposition bloc on 54, both short of the 61 needed to govern. Responsibility for October 7 is already central to the campaign. The warning reports sharpen it into a dispute over what Netanyahu knew before the attack, not simply whether he was alerted as it began.
