Former prime minister and head of B'Yachad Naftali Bennett said on Tuesday that he knew a reported warning from UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Hamas's plans ahead of the October 7 massacre was genuine, telling 103FM, "I'm telling you that I know this fact is true."
Bennett made the remarks after a Haaretz investigation published Tuesday, saying that bin Zayed specifically warned Netanyahu that then-Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was planning an operation.
"Mohammed bin Zayed of the Emirates warned Netanyahu that Sinwar was planning an operation. Abbas Kamel, the head of Egyptian General Intelligence, also warned Netanyahu days before the massacre that a major operation was being planned," he said. "I don't want to talk about my relationship with anyone. I'm telling you that I know this fact is true."
"Netanyahu led us blindly straight into this terrible disaster. He was so deeply immersed in his conception that Hamas was an asset, and despite receiving explicit warnings, he did nothing," the former prime minister claimed.
"Netanyahu bears direct responsibility for this disaster, not only ministerial responsibility by virtue of being prime minister, but direct responsibility because he built up Hamas for 15 years and did nothing."
Bin Zayed held 45-minute call to warn Netanyahu
The Haaretz report alleged that bin Zayed warned Netanyahu about a week and a half before the massacre that Sinwar was planning a major operation against Israel. During a 45-minute phone conversation, the UAE president reportedly expressed concern that such an attack could lead to significant bloodshed, destabilize the region, and undermine the Abraham Accords.
Bin Zayed urged Netanyahu to take the threat seriously, the report stated. Netanyahu, however, reportedly responded that, in his assessment, Hamas intended to operate in the West Bank and reassured the UAE president that Israel was prepared for any scenario.
Three senior foreign sources were cited as being familiar with the contents of the conversation. The report also relied on a close adviser to bin Zayed, who said the warning originated in contacts involving a Palestinian intermediary with ties to both Hamas and Israeli security officials.
The investigation said that in September 2023, Sinwar had warned through the intermediary that he was preparing a "zilzal," or earthquake, and later described what he was planning as "the mother of all surprises" and "a terrifying operation."
The message was ultimately relayed to the UAE leadership and, on September 15, to the Shin Bet. Then-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar briefed Netanyahu on Sinwar's warning, after which senior defense officials held a security meeting two days later.
At that meeting, Bar reportedly warned that Israel was "on a collision course" and recommended either a powerful offensive step or stronger defensive measures in Gaza and the West Bank ahead of the Jewish holidays, but no decisions were made at the end of the discussion.
After the UAE leadership concluded that Israel had not adequately responded to the information, bin Zayed decided to contact Netanyahu directly, according to the report.
The investigation also said Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel contacted Netanyahu around the same period and warned of "something unusual, a terrifying operation" being planned by Hamas. Netanyahu reportedly responded that Israel was in control of the situation in Gaza and was concentrating its attention and troop deployments on the West Bank.
Netanyahu did not mention either of the warning calls during a subsequent October 1 discussion on Gaza and Hamas, the report said. A senior Shin Bet official quoted in the investigation said knowledge of the warnings could potentially have changed how security officials interpreted Sinwar's earlier statements and withdrawal from negotiations.
"An absolute lie! Prime Minister Netanyahu did not speak with the president of the United Arab Emirates during the period in question and did not receive any warning from him," the Prime Minister's Office said.
Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and former IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi told Haaretz that they had not been informed of the warning allegedly delivered by the UAE president.
Haaretz said bin Zayed did not respond to a request for comment.
Bennett, Eisenkot decry Netanyahu's conduct regarding October 7 massacre
Asked how he would have acted had he been in Netanyahu's position in the fall of 2023, Bennett said, "In a similar situation, if I had received a quarter of a warning when I was prime minister, I would have raced to the South. That's what I always do: meet the commanders and the observation soldiers, convene the IDF chief of staff and the Shin Bet chief, increase alertness and defenses, and prepare for offensive action if necessary. I would have done everything to protect the lives of the residents."
Gadi Eisenkot, chairman of the Yashar! with Eisenkot party, also responded to the report, arguing that it only added to evidence that the prime minister had failed to act on warnings before the massacre.
"More and more signs indicate that Netanyahu led Israel blindly into the October 7 failure," Eisenkot said.
"According to the report this morning, he received an explicit warning, days before the massacre, from the president of the United Arab Emirates regarding Sinwar's intentions, but did not update the heads of the defense establishment. Who failed to wake whom up?"
"Those around him are echoing the pathetic conspiracy and betrayal theory, inventing the most ridiculous sentence a leader could cling to, 'They didn't wake me up,' because of two facts: He knows the truth; He is terrified of it and is trying to escape responsibility. Netanyahu received dozens of warnings ahead of October 7 and ignored them all. He is unfit."
Eisenkot said his party would seek to establish a state commission of inquiry after the formation of the next government.
"Immediately upon the formation of the next government, we will establish a state commission of inquiry that will investigate the previous decade, clarify what Netanyahu knew and did not know, get to the truth, and prevent the next disaster."