The President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, delivers a speech during a banquet official toast at the official presidential residence, in Berlin, Germany, Sept. 10, 2026. (Credit: Omer Messinger/Pool via Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday asked the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammad bin Zayed al-Nahyan (MBZ), to deny having warned him before Oct. 7, 2023, of a planned attack by Hamas, during a visit to Abu Dhabi that had not been announced by either country, reports the Associated Press (AP).
Weeks ago, a bombshell Israeli media report said the Emirati president had warned Netanyahu ahead of Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which the Israeli premier did not pass on to the security services.
The Israeli Prime Minister denied that any such warning had been issued.
On Sept. 25, the U.S. publication The Atlantic reported that Israel had allegedly received a second alert regarding an imminent Hamas attack prior to Oct. 7, 2023, provided by the Egyptian intelligence services.
Israeli media reported on Sunday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had made an unannounced visit to the United Arab Emirates to meet with the Gulf state's leader.
Israeli TV channels 12 and KAN as well as the newspapers Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post said that Netanyahu undertook a one-day visit to the UAE to meet President MBZ, though Netanyahu's office did not immediately comment.
The reported visit comes with the Middle East still gripped by a war launched by Israel and the U.S. against Iran in February.
Israel and the UAE formally established diplomatic relations in 2020 as part of the U.S.-negotiated Abraham Accords.
