🔶 "UAE Prime Minister warned Netanyahu before October 7"
The "New York Times" reported that Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, warned Benjamin Netanyahu of the possibility of a major ground attack by this group days before Hamas's ground attack on October 7.
Based on this, two sources said that Mohammed bin Zayed informed Netanyahu in late September 2023 that Hamas was likely preparing for a major ground attack.
One of these sources said they spoke personally with the UAE President, and the second source said they were briefed on the matter by a person who was present at the meeting between Mohammed bin Zayed and Netanyahu.
According to the "New York Times", it is unclear what the main source of the information provided by the UAE President to Netanyahu was and whether the two sides discussed other issues in that conversation. One of the sources said that the transmitted information did not specify whether the possible ground attack would include rocket fire or a ground incursion by Hamas forces into Israeli territory. However, the report said that Mohammed bin Zayed's overall message was that Hamas was considering a major move.
A few days after this alleged warning, Netanyahu held meetings with Israeli security officials regarding the situation in the Gaza Strip on October 1, 2023, according to the New York Times.
According to the minutes of the meetings that this newspaper claims to have obtained, Netanyahu did not mention Mohammed bin Zayed's warning in that meeting.
In that meeting, the main goal was to maintain peace in Gaza. Netanyahu also opposed the proposal by some authorities to consider a preemptive ground strike against Hamas leaders in Gaza.
According to the "New York Times" report, Netanyahu said in the October 1 meeting that any action taken by Israel in Gaza could undermine the process of establishing diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. At the time, he believed the normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia was close.
Five former Israeli senior officials told the "New York Times" that this warning was never passed on to the heads of Israel's security agencies.
They also said that the alleged involvement of Mohammed bin Zayed and Netanyahu was not mentioned in any of the internal investigations by the army and intelligence agencies in which they were involved.
This "New York Times" report was published following an investigation by "Haaretz".
According to "Haaretz", the information conveyed by Mohammed bin Zayed to Netanyahu is related to threats sent by Yahya Sinwar, then-Hamas leader in Gaza, through an intermediary with the nickname "Shamsjali".