A month before Israel’s elections, a series of “investigations” claiming warnings reached top Israeli officials before the October 7 massacre have resurfaced. The wave of reports—and especially how left-wing parties are using them—has sparked accusations that this isn’t coincidental timing, but rather a coordinated campaign designed to damage the government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
4+The reports aren’t staying confined to Israel. They’re getting major play internationally, with failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton weighing in last month on claims that Netanyahu knew about warnings before the Hamas attack. International media outlets are covering the allegations extensively.
One central claim began with a Yedioth Ahronoth report shortly after the massacre, alleging that Egypt warned Israel about a possible Hamas attack. Over the weekend, the report got fresh attention when The Atlantic added the name of Egypt’s then-intelligence chief, Abbas Kamel, to the story.
4+But this morning, former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant addressed the report in an interview with IDF Radio and refuted the claim as presented.
Another widely circulated report that became part of the left’s political campaign is the claim that Hamas sent a warning to the Shin Bet on the eve of the massacre. But the Shin Bet also denies this was a warning related to the October 7 attack.
Gallant addressed this report as well this morning, saying the message in question was actually related to the kidnapping of Israeli citizen Elizabeth Tsurkov in Iraq, not a warning about a Hamas attack.
4+Meanwhile, Haaretz continues to amplify Shlomi Eldar’s report claiming Netanyahu received a warning call from UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed before the massacre.
But the UAE has already denied that such a conversation took place between the two leaders. In a statement, they said: “The UAE discusses security issues with other countries through the relevant bodies, and does not discuss details of this kind at the level of national leaders.”
4+The wave of reports and their echo at home and abroad has fueled claims of a coordinated campaign. Last night, the Prime Minister’s Office also denied the latest report about a warning allegedly coming from Egypt.
“This is a false claim. It was already refuted then, and now they’re recycling it to mislead the Israeli public,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.
4+The office added: “On October 11, 2023, Egypt officially denied that it warned Israel about the October 7 attack. 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 Service, and no Israeli intelligence official conveyed such a warning to the prime minister.”
In a few days, three years will have passed since the October 7 massacre. There’s no question that a thorough investigation of what happened at all levels before the failure is needed, but the claim emerging from the wave of reports and their timing is that the left’s use of them is primarily aimed at influencing the election, not revealing new information about what happened before the massacre.