The warning came during a 45-minute phone call about 10 days before the attack, in which United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed told Netanyahu that Hamas's Gaza leader, Yahya Sinwar, was preparing a "major operation" and that Israel needed to be ready, the authors wrote, citing foreign sources.
Bin Zayed reportedly went further, warning that the coming attack would not just spill blood but destabilize the region and threaten the Abraham Accords — the U.S.-brokered normalization deals between Israel and Arab states struck during Trump's first term.
Netanyahu's muted response caught the Emirati leader off guard, according to the account. The Israeli prime minister reportedly told bin Zayed that his own intelligence pointed to a Hamas strike in the West Bank, not Gaza's border, and that Israel was "prepared for any eventuality".
A Palestinian adviser to bin Zayed told the authors the emir had hoped that, despite the cool reply, Netanyahu would still act on the tip — and that neither man imagined he would keep it from Shin Bet, Mossad or the military, none of which was ever briefed, the book reportedly says.
Netanyahu's office dismissed the account as "an absolute lie" when Haaretz sought comment, denying that any call with bin Zayed took place during that window and insisting the prime minister "was not warned by him". Bin Zayed's office did not respond to a request for comment.
Per Haaretz, the UAE's own knowledge of the threat traced back to Hamas itself, which had grown frustrated with stalled talks over the release of Palestinian prisoners.
It wasn't the only alarm Netanyahu is reported to have ignored: Egyptian intelligence chief Gen. Abbas Kamel called days before the attack with a similar warning that Hamas was preparing "something extraordinary, a terrifying operation", according to the news site Ynet, which reported the call shortly after Oct. 7. Netanyahu has denied that warning too.
The attack, when it came, was the deadliest in Israel's history — a coordinated Hamas assault from Gaza into southern border communities that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.
It triggered a siege still ongoing nearly three years later, one that has left Gaza largely destroyed, killed 73,600 Palestinians, 472 Israeli soldiers, and drawn Israel into near-continuous conflict on multiple fronts, including against Hezbollah and Iran.
The failures surrounding Oct. 7 have dogged Netanyahu ever since, with opposition leaders and large segments of the public blaming him for missed warnings, a botched initial response, and flawed wartime decision-making.
He has refused opposition demands to convene an independent commission of inquiry, and the attack has become a defining issue in Israel's parliamentary campaign ahead of the Oct. 27 election.
"Netanyahu received dozens of warnings before Oct. 7 and ignored all of them", opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot wrote on X, calling the prime minister unfit for office. Fellow opposition figure Naftali Bennett went further, saying Netanyahu bears "personal, direct responsibility for the disaster that led to the deaths of thousands of Israelis" on his watch.
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Source: PAP