Tel Aviv(The COW News Digital)Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly asked United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to deny claims that Abu Dhabi had warned Israel about a possible Hamas attack before October 7, 2023, according to a report cited by the Associated Press.
Netanyahu reportedly made the request during a private meeting with the UAE president in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, September 27, 2026. The visit was not publicly announced in advance and was described in reports as a secret trip.
According to sources familiar with the visit, the two leaders discussed a recent report published by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. The report claimed that Sheikh Mohamed had warned Netanyahu shortly before the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack about the possibility of an impending assault.
The reported warning has not been independently verified. The UAE government has not confirmed that such a warning was delivered, while Netanyahu’s office has also not publicly confirmed the details of the alleged conversation.
The Associated Press reported that sources briefed on Netanyahu’s visit spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the private meeting publicly. According to those sources, Netanyahu asked the Emirati president to publicly reject the claims contained in the Haaretz report.
The UAE Foreign Ministry was contacted for comment but did not directly address whether the alleged warning had been issued. The ministry instead pointed to the existence of direct communication channels between the UAE and Israel through which intelligence information is exchanged.
The Israeli prime minister’s office was also approached for a response, but no immediate comment was reported.
Netanyahu’s visit to Abu Dhabi reportedly took place on September 27, with the Israeli prime minister meeting Sheikh Mohamed during his stay. Israeli Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu spent around four hours in the UAE, while other reports put the overall duration of his visit at approximately six hours.
The reported meeting comes amid renewed attention to questions surrounding the intelligence available to Israeli authorities before the October 7 attack. The attack, carried out by Hamas-led militants, triggered the continuing regional conflict and generated extensive scrutiny over intelligence warnings and security preparedness.
Haaretz’s report about the alleged Emirati warning has become a subject of controversy. Netanyahu has reportedly threatened legal action over the publication, while the specific claim concerning an advance warning from the UAE president remains unconfirmed by independent evidence.
The latest reports therefore leave several key questions unresolved, including the exact nature of any intelligence shared before October 7 and whether Netanyahu personally received such information from the Emirati leadership.
Neither side has publicly released details of the reported private discussion in Abu Dhabi. The UAE and Israel maintain direct diplomatic and communication channels following the normalization of relations under the Abraham Accords.
The reported request by Netanyahu, if confirmed, would add another dimension to the ongoing debate over what information was available to Israeli officials before the October 7 attack. For now, however, the reported request and the alleged advance warning remain based on accounts from sources and media reports rather than publicly released official documentation.
