Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was warned days ahead of time that Hamas terrorists were planning a “major attack” but failed to act on the information, The New York Times has confirmed.
The outlet spoke with two sources who backed up an earlier report from Israeli newspaper Haaretz containing the damaging revelation about Netanyahu, who is running for a seventh term as prime minister.
According to Haaretz, United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed warned Netanyahu in late September that Hamas was plotting an attack.
Sources told The Times that Netanyahu never passed that warning along to Israel’s security officials.
Five former senior Israeli officials said the message from the Emirati leader never made it to the heads of Israel’s security establishment. Days later, on Oct. 1, 2023, Netanyahu convened his security chiefs for a meeting on the situation in the Gaza Strip. According to minutes of that meeting reviewed by The Times, he did not mention the warning.
Netanyahu has denied the allegation that he failed to take action ahead of the devastating terror attack. The report comes on the heels of the prime minister’s fiery speech to the United Nations General Assembly, in which he defended Israel’s actions in Iran.
The Times also reported that Netanyahu was reluctant to take action in Gaza in the period leading up to the attack.
At the Oct. 1 meeting, the details of which had not been previously reported, Netanyahu said that any Israeli move in Gaza could sabotage the chances of Saudi Arabia establishing diplomatic relations with Israel. The prime minister believed such a deal was imminent at the time.
Less than a week later, the unthinkable happened.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel that was stunning in its cruelty. About 1,200 Israeli civilians were slaughtered, including women and children. More than 200 people were taken hostage.
The attack triggered a severe response from Israel, which carried out repeated strikes that have left Gaza devastated and sparked an outcry around the world.
The latest reporting raises pointed questions about what Netanyahu knew and when. According to the accounts from Haaretz and The Times, the prime minister received a direct warning from the leader of the UAE in late September. Yet when he sat down with his top security officials just days later to discuss Gaza, the warning did not come up, according to the meeting minutes.
Instead, the focus at that meeting, according to The Times, was on the potential diplomatic cost of any Israeli action in Gaza, particularly the risk it could pose to a possible normalization deal with Saudi Arabia that Netanyahu believed was close at hand.
The revelations land as Netanyahu seeks another term in office and as he continues to defend his government’s conduct on the world stage. The prime minister has rejected the claim that he failed to act before the attack.
The confirmation by The Times of Haaretz’s earlier report adds new weight to questions surrounding the days before one of the deadliest attacks in Israel’s history.
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