Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid a secret visit to the United Arab Emirates over the weekend and met on Sunday with the country’s president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The purpose of the unusual trip was to ask the UAE leader to publicly deny reports claiming he had warned the Prime Minister of an impending threat from Hamas shortly before the October 7, 2023, terror attack in southern Israel that ignited the war, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Monday.
The meeting between Netanyahu and Bin Zayed, which lasted about an hour, took place on Sunday and was confirmed on Monday by two officials briefed on the Israeli leader’s trip. A source familiar with the details—claiming to have first-hand information about the conversation—said the discussions focused on a report published earlier this month in the Haaretz newspaper. According to that report, the UAE leader had personally conveyed an early warning to Netanyahu regarding an imminent Hamas attack just before the October 7 assault.
During the meeting, Netanyahu asked Sheikh Mohammed to officially deny the report. The Prime Minister’s Office had previously denied the Haaretz story, and it has now emerged that an attempt was made to secure a denial from the Emirati side as well. That official, along with another regional official briefed on the meeting, spoke on condition of anonymity due to the high sensitivity surrounding the secret trip.
The UAE Foreign Ministry declined to comment directly on reports regarding the actual meeting, but stated in an official announcement that the country maintains “open and direct channels of communication” with Israel and shares “all relevant intelligence” with it. There was no immediate response from Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office.