'Didn’t speak with me': Netanyahu admits Egypt intelligence chief visited Israel before Oct 7 Hamas attack, but declines meeting him

Days after his office denied any such visit, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has admitted that Egypt’s then-intelligence chief Abbas Kamel visited Israel shortly before the Oct 7, 2023 attack by Hamas. In an interview with Israel’s Channel 14, Netanyahu confirmed that Kamel had spent 59 minutes in the country but denied speaking to him or meeting him. Netanyahu said that he has no information on whom did Kamel meet. The Israeli PM said that he was attending a memorial ceremony for Israeli Defence Forces soldiers at the time of Kamel's visit. This is the first clarification by Netanyahu ahead of Israeli elections and after a row broke out over warnings given to Israeli government before 2023 Hamas attack. Earlier, his office has dismissed the report as “fake news.”

Also Read: Egypt warned Netanyahu thrice about Oct 7 Hamas attack but he ignored: Report

“He didn’t meet with me, he didn’t speak with me. I want to know whom he met? When does an intelligence chief meet with a head of state? I was not there…because I was in a memorial ceremony for IDF soldiers at that time," he said. He blamed the security chiefs wfor not waking him on the night of October 7, claiming that despite signs indicating a Hamas attack they were afraid he would cause a “miscalculation” by striking the terror group hard. According to Netanyahu, the intelligence and military heads believed Hamas was carrying out a drill or preparing for a minor attack. "If they had woken me up, they knew I’d have woken everybody and canceled Nova and put the air force on alert. If we wake up the prime minister, he’ll cause Hamas to attack us without meaning to,” Netanyahu claimed.

Also Read: UAE confirms Netanyahu's visit: Six-hour talks amid Oct 7 Hamas attack report

Egypt’s intelligence chief warned about Oct 7 attack

In September last week, it was reported that Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel called Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just days before Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack and warned him of the onslaught from Gaza. Not only this, Egypt had reportedly issued two more warnings to Israel previous to Kamel's message. However, all the warnings were ignored by Israel, The Wall Street Journal reported. This came day after it was reported that UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed had spoken to Netanyahu and warned him about a major operation being planned by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar ahead of Oct 7 attack.