Netanyahu secretly flew to the UAE

According to anonymous sources in several media outlets, the head of government intended to personally ask bin Zayed to refute reports that he had warned Netanyahu about a Hamas attack before the October 7, 2023 invasion, writes the BBC.

Information that the UAE had warned the Prime Minister about the attack was first published by the left-wing Israeli newspaper "Haaretz" back in early September. After the publication, Netanyahu promised to sue the newspaper.

Now, Israeli Channel 12 reported that at around 12:00 on Sunday, Netanyahu and those accompanying him flew by private jet to Abu Dhabi and spent about four hours in the UAE.

According to some information, his meeting with Mohamed bin Zayed took place directly at Abu Dhabi airport.

On Monday evening, the official UAE news agency reported that the visit indeed took place, and the parties "discussed bilateral relations between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, as well as ways to strengthen and develop them."

The trip took place amid a scandal in Israel over reports that the UAE leader had warned Netanyahu about the threat about a week and a half before the Hamas attack.

Israeli media and the Associated Press, among others, write that the Prime Minister's objective was to request a refutation.

Additionally, the American Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic reported several other warnings, including from the former head of Egyptian intelligence, which came just days before the attack.

Netanyahu's office has consistently denied from the very beginning that it received any warnings through any channels about the impending attack.

It is not precisely known whether Netanyahu actually asked the UAE President to deny these reports. However, Israeli political analysts note that such a step would be entirely understandable given the approaching parliamentary elections in Israel, which will be very difficult for the Prime Minister even without this scandal.

The elections will take place on October 27 (provided that the security situation does not prevent polling stations from opening).

"Israel's Internal Affair"

Earlier on Monday, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused to comment on reports of Netanyahu's Sunday meeting with bin Zayed. At the same time, the ministry stated that it maintains "open and direct communication channels" with Israel and transmits "all relevant intelligence information" to it.

According to sources of journalists in the UAE, the country considers the press scandal situation part of Israel's internal politics and does not want to interfere in it, especially on the eve of elections.

The Prime Minister's office did not comment on either the information about the trip to the UAE or its purpose. But on Monday, Netanyahu himself published a refutation on the X social network of reports about his alleged contacts with the head of Egyptian intelligence, Abbas Kamel, before the Hamas invasion.

"In the months leading up to October 7, Prime Minister Netanyahu did not meet or speak with Abbas Kamel, who was then head of Egypt's General Intelligence Directorate. No Israeli intelligence representative also conveyed warnings from Egypt to the Prime Minister," he wrote.

Netanyahu stated that he intends to file a defamation lawsuit, writes Times of Israel, but did not specify against whom exactly. His office had previously threatened legal action against a number of media outlets and journalists over publications it considered defamatory.

The Prime Minister also stated that he never meets with heads of foreign intelligence services without the presence of their Israeli counterparts.

What Netanyahu says about the accusations

Benjamin Netanyahu consistently accuses Israel's left-wing media of launching a smear campaign against him.

He also believes that publications hostile to him are trying to place on him "responsibility for all the failures and crimes of [former Shin Bet head] Ronen Bar on the eve of October 7."

According to him, on the night of October 7, Bar, the then Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, and the head of military intelligence Major General Aharon Haliva "discussed all the alarming signals," writes Times of Israel.

"Despite this, Ronen Bar decided not to call the Prime Minister and inform him, not to put civilian self-defense squads and IDF units on the ground on alert, not to evacuate participants of the Nova festival, but instead only to send a small group of the elite anti-terrorist unit Tequila — which proves that he knew about the real danger," Netanyahu stated.

Netanyahu believes that Arab countries claiming to have warned him about something may be pursuing their own goal — to overthrow his right-wing government and bring his electoral rivals Gadi Eizenkot, Yair Golan, and Avigdor Lieberman to power.

According to the Prime Minister, such a government "will withdraw from Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Judea and Samaria and create a Palestinian state." "This is the choice in these elections: either the right-wing, or Palestine," he asserts.

A significant part of Israeli society is dissatisfied that Netanyahu refuses the Supreme Court's proposal to establish an independent commission to investigate the tragedy of October 7, endowed with the broadest investigative powers.

The Prime Minister believes that such a commission would be biased against the government in advance. He advocates for the creation of another commission, whose members would be appointed by deputies, and whose powers and investigative scope would be determined by politicians.

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