Secret Abu Dhabi Visit Highlights Dispute Over Alleged UAE Warning Before Hamas Attack
Israeli media report that Benjamin Netanyahu flew secretly to Abu Dhabi on 27 September amid controversy over whether the UAE warned him before Hamas’s October 7 attack. A Haaretz investigation said Mohammed bin Zayed phoned the prime minister about a planned "earthquake"; Netanyahu calls the report an "absolute" falsehood.
A reported secret trip by Benjamin Netanyahu to Abu Dhabi has drawn fresh attention to one of the most sensitive questions surrounding Hamas’s 7 October attack: who warned whom, and what did Israeli leaders do with those warnings.
According to accounts circulating in Israeli media, the Israeli prime minister made an unannounced visit to the United Arab Emirates capital on 27 September. The reports say the visit came as Netanyahu faced growing scrutiny over a Haaretz investigation into whether the UAE alerted him before the Hamas assault.
Haaretz reported that around ten days before 7 October, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan — widely known as MBZ — called Netanyahu. Citing unnamed sources, the paper said MBZ warned that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was planning an "earthquake," a term described in the reporting as signaling a major, destabilizing action. The investigation said Netanyahu told MBZ that Israel was prepared, and that he did not pass the warning on to Israel’s security chiefs.
Netanyahu has rejected this account and has been quoted as calling it an "absolute" lie. The Israeli reports about his September trip to Abu Dhabi say he sought a public denial from MBZ of the Haaretz story, underscoring how damaging the allegation is for him politically and diplomatically.
If the Haaretz version were borne out, it would place the UAE’s leader alongside other actors reported to have expressed concern about Hamas’s intentions before the attack. That would deepen questions about Netanyahu’s handling of intelligence and early warnings in the days leading up to 7 October, when Hamas fighters broke through Israeli defenses and carried out large‑scale killings and kidnappings.
For the UAE, being pulled into this argument risks complicating a relationship it has presented as a flagship achievement of regional diplomacy. The UAE normalized ties with Israel under the Abraham Accords and has worked to position itself as a partner on security, technology and trade, as well as a potential mediator in regional crises. Publicly confirming or denying a specific pre‑attack call could affect perceptions of that role.
Israeli families of those killed or abducted on 7 October have been pressing for a full examination of the political and military chain of decisions before the attack. The possibility that a direct warning from a close regional partner might have been mishandled or not shared would add another layer to demands for accountability.
The reported episode also touches on how intelligence and warnings now move around the region. Gulf states such as the UAE have built their own networks and capabilities and sometimes receive information that Western or Israeli services do not immediately hold. How these warnings are passed on, documented and acted upon has become a core issue in regional crisis management.
Washington, which brokered the original UAE‑Israel normalization and sees their cooperation as central to its regional strategy, is watching how the dispute evolves. The United States depends on quiet channels among its partners to manage incidents around Iran, Gaza and shipping lanes. Any sign that those channels are being constrained by political mistrust makes that job harder.
The next decisive signals will be whether Abu Dhabi issues a clear public statement on the alleged pre‑October 7 call, and how Israeli institutions respond if no such statement emerges. An explicit Emirati denial would strengthen Netanyahu’s rebuttal of the Haaretz report; sustained silence would leave the controversy open and keep questions alive about what warnings Israel did or did not receive from key partners before one of the most consequential attacks in its history.
Sources
- OSINT