Netanyahu Visits UAE Amid Row Over Hamas Attack Warning

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the United Arab Emirates on Sunday and met President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, both sides confirmed on Monday, in a rare trip to the country.

The meeting comes as Israel heads towards an election on October 27 and amid renewed political controversy in Israel over reporting that Sheikh Mohammed had warned Netanyahu of a major Hamas operation ahead of the October 7, 2023, attacks.

Meeting In Abu Dhabi Confirmed By Both Sides

The UAE state news agency, WAM, said Sheikh Mohammed and Netanyahu held talks in the UAE on Sunday. It reported that the two leaders “discussed bilateral relations between the UAE and Israel and ways to strengthen and further develop them”.

Netanyahu’s office said the meeting focused on strengthening relations between the two countries and on regional challenges.

An Israeli source familiar with the trip, speaking to CNN on Sunday, said the meeting was dominated by discussion of Iran. It said the two countries have deepened their cooperation in that area, including during the current conflict involving Iran.

Netanyahu’s Delegation Includes Security And Intelligence Heads

The Israeli Prime Minister’s office said the visit included Netanyahu’s wife and senior officials, including the head of the National Security Council, the head of the Mossad, a military secretary, and a political adviser.

Neither Israel nor the UAE mentioned the previously reported warning about October 7 in the statements issued on Monday about Netanyahu’s trip.

Election Nears As Allegations Reignite Debate

Netanyahu’s visit took place exactly one month before the election date. It also follows a dispute in Israel that has centred on allegations published by Haaretz and The New York Times.

The reports said Sheikh Mohammed had warned Netanyahu about a major Hamas operation days before October 7, 2023. Netanyahu denied those claims and dismissed them as false, saying they were designed to damage him politically.

Posting on X on Monday, Netanyahu said: “I never met or spoke to the Egyptian intel chief before Oct. 7, no warning was conveyed to me.” He added that “foreign and hostile states and actors including Arab states are behind the false blood libels.”

Israeli rivals have used the allegations to argue that the failures around preventing the attacks should be a central issue in the election campaign.

UAE Sidesteps Denial As Israel Points To Wider Interference

In response to earlier reporting on the claimed warning, the UAE Foreign Ministry said earlier this month that it did not comment on media stories or speculation about conversations between government leaders. It added that when necessary, relevant intelligence was communicated between the relevant entities.

At the time, an Israeli source said Netanyahu’s office tried to persuade the UAE to deny the report, but the UAE agreed only to issue a statement about intelligence sharing.

The Likud party later issued its own claim, saying the allegations reflected “blatant foreign interference” in Israel’s election by UAE-based Palestinian politician Mohammed Dahlan, without providing evidence.

Gadi Eizenkot, polling as Netanyahu’s main challenger, said on Saturday that the reports “leave no room for doubt”, arguing that Netanyahu had led the country “to the greatest disaster in its history”.

The controversy also draws on separate reporting about warnings allegedly conveyed to Israel by Egypt. The Atlantic said Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel flew to Israel on September 26, 2023, to warn that Gaza would “blow up”. On Sunday, The Wall Street Journal reported that there had been at least three Egyptian warnings, including a phone call to Netanyahu in the days before the attacks.

Iron Dome And Earlier Dispute Over A Secret Visit

In May, Netanyahu’s office said he had secretly visited the UAE in March during the early days of the Iran war, describing it as a historic breakthrough. The UAE Foreign Ministry denied that claim at the time as “completely unfounded”.

During the conflict, Israel is also said to have deployed an Iron Dome missile defence system to the UAE, and Israeli officials have said security cooperation between the two countries has reached unprecedented levels.

Sunday’s trip was Netanyahu’s first publicly acknowledged visit to the UAE.

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29 September 2026

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