Lawmakers react to new bombshell report that Netanyahu was warned about Oct. 7 attack plans

An investigation conducted for the new book "Hostages: 843 Days of Abandonment," researched by Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval, reveals that UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a secure line about ten days before October 7, 2023, and warned him for 45 minutes that Sinwar was planning a major operation against Israel. According to the report, bin Zayed feared the event would destabilize the region and threaten the Abraham Accords.

Netanyahu reportedly responded calmly, telling bin Zayed he believed Hamas intended to operate in the West Bank and that Israel was prepared for any scenario. None of Israel's security chiefs, including the heads of the Shin Bet and Mossad and the IDF chief of staff, were briefed on the warning, the investigation found.

The report traces the warning back to a secret Israel-Hamas channel, approved by Netanyahu, that had been negotiating a temporary truce and prisoner arrangement since early 2023. In September 2023, Sinwar abruptly cut off contact with the channel and told a Fatah intermediary, referred to as "Coal Eyes," to warn Israel he was preparing "the mother of all surprises," using the word "zilzal," or earthquake.

The warning was relayed to bin Zayed's adviser and eventually to Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, who briefed Netanyahu by phone on September 15. A security meeting held two days later ended without a decision.

According to the investigation, Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel separately warned Netanyahu around the same time of "something unusual, a terrifying operation," while Netanyahu told him Israel's focus and forces were on the West Bank, not Gaza.

The investigation states that on October 1, Bar again recommended targeting senior Hamas officials including Sinwar, and Netanyahu replied, "Prepare plans for me and I will consider them," a response a senior defense official described as his standard way of postponing decisions. Throughout this period, the report says, Netanyahu never disclosed bin Zayed's warning to his security chiefs. A senior Shin Bet official told the authors that had the warning been shared, "it could have changed our entire assessment picture."

In response to the investigation, the prime minister's office said "Prime Minister Netanyahu didn't speak to the president of the UAE during the period in question and received no warning from him," calling the report "an absolute lie." Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and former IDF Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi said they were never informed of the warning attributed to bin Zayed.

The book's researchers reached out to bin Zayed for comment but did not receive one.

Reacting to the report, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett confirmed the report, saying "The announcement that Netanyahu was warned ten days before the October 7 massacre is true." On X, Bennett wrote that Netanyahu "bears personal and direct responsibility for the oversight that led to the deaths of thousands of Israelis on his watch," calling his disregard for the warnings "criminal negligence."

Bennett said Netanyahu "did not go into the field, did not alert the heads of the security establishment, did not prepare Israel for an attack, and did not convene the cabinet," and accused him of being "captive to his own concept" even in the face of warnings from regional leaders. Bennett argues that the truth "will only be revealed in a state commission of inquiry," which he said the government is blocking.

Leading opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot wrote on X that this story was further proof that Netanyahu was "unfit" to serve.