Netanyahu to sue Haaretz over claims UAE warned him before October 7 attack

What the report says

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will sue the Israeli newspaper Haaretz over a report alleging that the United Arab Emirates’ president, Mohammed bin Zayed, warned him before Hamas carried out the October 7, 2023 attacks. In a statement posted on X on Wednesday, Netanyahu rejected the report as false and said his lawyers would also pursue the paper and two of its journalists, according to Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera reported that the Haaretz article, published a day earlier, claimed that MBZ phoned Netanyahu roughly 10 days before the attacks to warn of a possible Hamas offensive. The report said the warning was passed through Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security service, but was dismissed there and later by Netanyahu himself. The UAE’s foreign ministry declined to discuss the alleged conversation, saying it does not comment on media speculation about leaders’ talks.

The dispute comes as Netanyahu faces political pressure ahead of Israel’s upcoming Knesset elections in October, with polls showing him behind some challengers. Al Jazeera noted that the newspaper’s account also linked the alleged warning to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and to tensions over prisoner exchange talks and Israel’s Gaza blockade, though those details were part of Haaretz’s reporting rather than independently confirmed by Al Jazeera.