Netanyahu Launches Defamation Lawsuit Against Haaretz Over Alleged Pre-October 7 UAE Warning

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that he is taking legal action against the prominent Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz, as well as two of its contributing journalists, following the publication of an investigative piece alleging that he had received an explicit advance warning regarding Hamas’s October 7, 2023 offensive. The prime minister forcefully rejected the claims, characterizing the published account as completely fictitious and politically motivated.

The legal action targets Haaretz alongside journalists Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yaval, who authored the explosive report. In a public statement issued via the social media platform X, Netanyahu denounced the story as an absolute fabrication designed to undermine his administration, confirming that he had formally instructed his legal counsel to initiate court proceedings against both the publication and the individual reporters.

According to the account published by Haaretz, United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan personally reached out to warn Netanyahu about an impending Hamas assault roughly ten days before the cross-border operation was executed. The report claimed that Emirati leadership had intercepted critical intelligence regarding the planned attack and attempted to convey the urgency of the situation directly to the highest levels of the Israeli government.

The foundation of the alleged warning reportedly stemmed from then-Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar. Haaretz stated that Sinwar had grown increasingly enraged by the ongoing blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip and the lack of progress in negotiations regarding Palestinian prisoner exchanges. Consequently, Sinwar allegedly transmitted messages through an intermediary signaling that Hamas was preparing a massive strategic surprise, specifically instructing contacts to caution Israel to prepare for an "earthquake."

Emirati officials, including President Mohammed bin Zayed and his close advisory circle, reportedly interpreted Sinwar’s communications not merely as routine political rhetoric, but as a direct indication that a full-scale military campaign was imminent. Acting on these assessments, the UAE allegedly forwarded the critical intelligence to Israel’s internal security service, the Shin Bet, in hopes of alerting Israeli authorities to the looming danger.

Despite the gravity of the intelligence, the Haaretz report asserted that the Shin Bet ultimately dismissed the warning, viewing the threat as improbable. Faced with this apparent inaction from Israeli intelligence operatives, the UAE president allegedly sought to bypass routine intelligence channels by contacting Netanyahu directly via telephone, only for the Israeli prime minister to similarly brush aside the high-level alert.

In response to the growing controversy, the government of the United Arab Emirates has declined to validate the assertions outlined in the Israeli publication. The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an official statement noting that the Emirati government adheres to a strict policy of not commenting on speculative media reports or private diplomatic discussions conducted between international heads of state.

Netanyahu, for his part, has mounted an aggressive defense, firmly rejecting the claim that any such phone conversation took place between him and the Emirati president. He stated that exhaustive internal reviews were carried out across official administrative bodies, noting that both the National Security Council and the Military Secretary conducted meticulous examinations of his official call logs for the time period in question and uncovered no evidence or record of the alleged phone exchange.

The prime minister further framed the investigative piece as an orchestrated smear campaign, arguing that the claims were manufactured to benefit political adversaries ahead of national balloting. Netanyahu contended that the allegations were politically driven and represented an effort by the political left to damage his standing in the midst of an election cycle.

The emergence of the report comes at a particularly delicate political juncture for Netanyahu, who is battling to preserve his position as prime minister ahead of the upcoming Knesset elections scheduled for October. Public opinion polling indicates that Netanyahu has been trailing in voter support, confronting a formidable challenge from political rival and former military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot.

Broadening his criticism beyond the newspaper itself, Netanyahu also alleged that the underlying source behind the narrative was Muhammad Dahlan, a prominent Palestinian political figure currently living in exile in the UAE. Netanyahu accused Dahlan of being the originator of what he termed a deliberately false and harmful media leak.

Dahlan, a former leading official within the Fatah movement, was formally expelled from the party in 2011 following a bitter internal power dispute with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Since establishing his residence in the Emirates, Dahlan has remained a notable political actor. According to reports in Israeli media, representatives acting on behalf of Dahlan have firmly denied any involvement in the creation or dissemination of the claims.

The controversy surrounding the alleged intelligence failure touches on the events of October 7, 2023, during which Palestinian fighters killed at least 1,195 people in southern Israel and captured approximately 251 hostages. The events of that day served as the catalyst for Israel’s devastating military campaign in the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in the deaths of at least 73,669 Palestinians.

As the October Knesset elections approach, the public dispute over the Haaretz report highlights the ongoing domestic tensions and high-stakes political battles surrounding accountability for the intelligence and security lapses that preceded the outbreak of the war.