Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed his lawyers to file a defamation suit against Israeli outlet Haaretz, journalist Shlomi Eldar, and additional parties, in response to a report published Tuesday alleging that Netanyahu spoke by phone with United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed in September 2023, who allegedly warned him of a "formidable" attack being planned by Yahya Sinwar, one of Hamas' former senior leaders.
"The prime minister has instructed his lawyers to file a libel suit against the leftist newspaper Haaretz, Shlomi Eldar, and additional parties who concocted a false libel against the prime minister that never happened and was never created," read a post on the prime minister's X account. "Contrary to what was claimed, no conversation whatsoever took place between the prime minister and the president of the UAE from the start of September until October 7."
The post added that the Prime Minister's Office, the National Security Council, and the Military Secretariat thoroughly examined the prime minister's call log for that period and found no trace of the alleged conversation. "As a rule, diplomatic conversations between the prime minister and the president of the UAE take place solely at the Prime Minister's Office, through an Emirati representative who arrives at the office with a special encrypted device. All these conversations are documented."
Haaretz's investigation, published Tuesday morning, alleged that Prime Minister Netanyahu had received a major warning on Oct. 7 from a regional leader but chose to ignore it, which has ignited a full-blown firestorm in Israel's opposition. The report claims that UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed warned Netanyahu 10 days before October 7 that Hamas was preparing a major move.
The warning arrived in an unusual 45-minute phone call at the end of September 2023, a week and a half before the war erupted. Details of the conversation are based on the book "Hostages: 843 Days of Abandonment," by Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval. In the call, the UAE president cautioned that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was planning a significant event and urged Israel to prepare. The warning followed a message Sinwar had relayed to a mediator saying he was preparing an "earthquake."
According to the exposé by Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval, Netanyahu reassured bin Zayed in their conversation, assessed that Hamas had its sights on Judea and Samaria, and kept the information from major decision-makers.
