Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stated on Tuesday that he knew a reported warning from UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding Hamas’s plans prior to the October 7 massacre was genuine. Speaking to 103FM, Bennett asserted, “I’m telling you that I know this fact is true.”
His remarks followed the publication of a Haaretz investigation on Tuesday.
According to the investigation, bin Zayed warned Netanyahu several days before the massacre that Hamas was planning an attack. The report indicated the two leaders held a 45-minute phone conversation, during which Netanyahu reassured the UAE president, claiming Hamas was primarily focused on the West Bank and that Israel was prepared for any scenario.
In response, Netanyahu’s office denied the claim, stating, “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.”
Referencing the Haaretz report, Bennett specified that bin Zayed explicitly warned Netanyahu that Yahya Sinwar was planning an operation.
Bennett further noted, “Abbas Kamel, the head of Egyptian General Intelligence, also warned Netanyahu days before the massacre that a major operation was being planned. I do not wish to discuss my relationships with anyone, but I am telling you that I know this fact is true.”
“Netanyahu led us blindly straight into this terrible disaster,” the former prime minister claimed. “He was so deeply immersed in his conception that Hamas was an asset, and despite receiving explicit warnings, he did nothing.”
“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.”
When asked how he would have acted had he been in Netanyahu’s position in the fall of 2023, Bennett stated, “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 is 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 it further demonstrates that the prime minister failed to act on warnings before the massacre.
“More and more signs indicate that Netanyahu led Israel blindly into the October 7 failure,” Eisenkot stated.
“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 following 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.”
