Netanyahu threatens to sue Haaretz, denies UAE's early warning of October 7 attack

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that he would sue Haaretz and its journalists, accusing a report by the newspaper—which claimed that UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed had warned him of a Hamas attack ten days before the October 7, 2023 attack—of being 'fabricated' and 'false', and saying the report was politically motivated and served the 'left-wing election campaign'.

According to Al Jazeera, Netanyahu said in a statement posted on social platform X that he had instructed his lawyers to sue Haaretz and the two authors of the report—Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yahal.

At the heart of the dispute is whether a phone call took place. A report published by Haaretz on Tuesday claimed that then-Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, dissatisfied with stalled hostage exchange negotiations and Israel's continued blockade of Gaza, sent signals through intermediaries to the UAE side, saying he was preparing a 'huge surprise' and asking those involved to tell Israel to 'brace for an earthquake.' Citing sources, the newspaper said that MBZ and his aides viewed this as a sign that a full-scale attack was imminent and passed the intelligence to Israel's General Security Service (Shin Bet), but the internal security agency dismissed the threat as insignificant; MBZ subsequently issued a direct warning to Netanyahu, which was also set aside.

Netanyahu firmly denied this. According to Al Jazeera citing his statement, he claimed that the National Security Council and the military secretary had carefully checked call records for the relevant dates and 'found no trace of any relevant calls,' and denied having had such a conversation with MBZ.

UAE officials chose silence. The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on Tuesday saying it would 'not comment on media reports or speculation about conversations between government leaders,' neither confirming nor denying the content of the Haaretz report.

Netanyahu also issued a separate statement, pointing the finger at Palestinian political figure Mohammed Dahlan, who lives in exile in the UAE, calling him the source of what Haaretz called a 'false report.' Dahlan was expelled from Fatah in 2011 in a power struggle with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and currently resides in the UAE. Dahlan's representatives denied the allegation.

This media war comes as Israeli parliamentary elections are set to be held in October. According to Al Jazeera, Netanyahu trails in polls and faces a strong challenge from former military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot. The Haaretz report was published only weeks before voting day, and the Prime Minister's Office's choice at this moment to threaten a mainstream newspaper with a lawsuit and characterize the report as serving the left-wing election campaign makes its intent to pressure the news space clearly discernible.

According to Al Jazeera, the October 7, 2023 attack killed at least 1,195 people in southern Israel and left another 251 captured; the subsequent Israeli war on Gaza, characterized by the outlet as a 'genocidal war,' has killed at least 73,669 Palestinians. The Gaza conflict has lasted nearly three years, and the debate over intelligence failures and government responsibility has never ceased.