United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shortly before the October 7, 2023 terrorist attacks that Hamas was planning a large-scale offensive against Israel, according to an Israeli media report published on Tuesday.
Netanyahu did not pass the warning on to Israel's security chiefs or take action in response, the Haaretz newspaper reported.
Netanyahu's office rejected the report as an "absolute lie," according to the newspaper. It did not immediately respond to a separate request for comment by dpa.
Haaretz said its investigation was based on interviews with dozens of sources, including senior officials in Israel and other countries.
According to the report, bin Zayed called Netanyahu from the presidential palace in Abu Dhabi around a week and a half before the October 7 attacks and spoke with him for 45 minutes.
During the call, the Emirati president reportedly warned Netanyahu that then-Hamas leader Yehya al-Sinwar was planning a large-scale attack on Israel.
Bin Zayed also expressed concern that such an attack would not only lead to bloodshed but destabilize the wider region and undermine the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states, the report said.
According to Haaretz, bin Zayed urged Netanyahu to take the warning seriously and prepare for a potential attack.
Netanyahu, however, reportedly reacted "relatively calmly" and assured the Emirati leader that Israel was "prepared for any scenario." He was said to have considered the situation in the West Bank far more volatile.
Haaretz said three senior foreign government officials had been informed about the contents of the call. The newspaper cited an adviser to bin Zayed who was familiar with the conversation.
The investigation was conducted by journalists Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval, who have written a book about the hostages held in the Gaza Strip and the Gaza war.
The report comes ahead of Israel's general election next month, with polls suggesting that neither Netanyahu's bloc nor his opponents are currently assured of a majority.
Netanyahu's main rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, seized on the report to criticize the prime minister.
"More and more signs point to the fact that Netanyahu blindly led Israel into the disaster of October 7," Eisenkot wrote on X.
Eisenkot, leader of the centrist Yashar party, accused Netanyahu of ignoring dozens of warnings and said he was unfit to serve as prime minister.