Netanyahu’s secret UAE visit: Was it linked to reports of Oct 7 warning | Race To Power
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Netanyahu’s secret UAE visit: Was it linked to reports of Oct 7 warning | Race To Power")
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Photograph: (AFP)
Netanyahu reportedly flew to the UAE to seek a denial of claims that MBZ warned him about a Hamas attack before October 7. Netanyahu denies receiving the warning.
Election season is upon Israel.
The country is scheduled to vote in less than one month, in a poll that is extremely pivotal to incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's career.
But Bibi is not in the news for an election-related development. Rather, it is a so-called secret visit to the UAE over the weekend that is grabbing eyeballs.
There has been no government announcement from either country, but as more and more reports emerge, the reason for this sudden visit is raising several questions.
On Sunday, reports first surfaced in the Israeli media saying that Netanyahu had made a short, unannounced visit to meet with Emirati leader Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The visit reportedly lasted just a few hours.
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However, no other details emerged until a few hours ago.
Before we get into that development, the context and timeline are important here.
Just a few days ago, reports emerged of the UAE allegedly warning Israel about Hamas' plan to carry out an attack.
Reports, citing a book written by two investigative journalists, detailed how MBZ himself allegedly warned Bibi about the now-slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar's intent and plan to carry out an attack.
Netanyahu has denied receiving any such intelligence ahead of the October 7 attacks, while the UAE has declined to directly address the reports.
Now, there is a report by The Times of Israel which claims that Israel's prime minister flew to the UAE on Sunday to ask Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to deny the reports about the alleged intelligence sharing, which have come under renewed scrutiny.
Sources cited by The Times of Israel and the Associated Press say the meeting focused on the reports that bin Zayed had warned Netanyahu about a looming Hamas attack ahead of October 7. The UAE's Foreign Ministry has declined to comment directly on the reported meeting. However, it has said that the country maintains “open and direct lines of communication” with Israel and shares relevant intelligence.
Remember, the UAE and Israel normalised relations in 2020 under the Abraham Accords.
The developments also overlap with separate reports of Egypt sharing intelligence with Israel.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Egypt conveyed at least three separate warnings to Israel about signs of an impending attack from Gaza. These reportedly included a secret visit by Egypt's intelligence chief Abbas Kamel and a phone call to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just days before the attack.
According to officials cited by the newspaper, Kamel secretly travelled to Israel around two weeks before October 7 and warned that Hamas appeared to be preparing for a major attack.
But the Egyptian warning reportedly did not include a specific date, targets or detailed information about the scale of the planned operation.
And The Wall Street Journal says the warnings continued.
In the days before October 7, Kamel reportedly called Netanyahu again, warning of signs of an impending attack.
These fresh reports are also raising new questions over what Israel knew in the weeks before the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.
Netanyahu has repeatedly denied personally receiving advance warnings of the October 7 attack. He has also blamed Israeli security officials for failing to adequately alert him to the threat. On Monday, Netanyahu again denied reports that he had personally spoken with Abbas Kamel or received an Egyptian warning.
The Israeli government has faced continued scrutiny over the intelligence and security failures surrounding the Hamas assault, which killed about 1,200 people in Israel and saw around 250 people taken hostage during the attack.
The latest reports are particularly significant because they come amid renewed political debate in Israel over the government's handling of the events leading up to October 7.
