NETANYAHU KNEW

LIFE AND NEWS NOTES FROM AN OVEREDUCATED, CHILDLESS OLD CAT LADY, BEAVERING AWAY IN ONE OF THE SUB-BASEMENTS OF THE MINISTRY OF SNARK

Tuesday 8 September 2026

The most important new story of the day, according to my opinion, is that Benjamin Netanyahu was given explicit advanced warning of an attack on October 7. Not only did he refrain from doing anything about it, he failed to notify his military and others high up in his cabinet that an attack was coming (Eldar, 9/8/26).

The Middle East is not usually my locus of interest when it comes to international affairs. Having traveled extensively in Latin America, done a doctoral thesis on law in ancient Mexico, and written books about law and Mexico and Panama, Israel was not one of my areas of real interest.

But, near the end of the summer of 2023, it was hard to avoid interest when hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets against their own government regarding a change in the laws regarding the justice system. This was especially the case when it came out that men and women had said that they would refuse to comply with military deployment if the government went ahead with the determination to denature the Israeli Supreme Court.

So, I was already paying attention to events in Israel. “Terrorists attacks inflamed the West Bank, masses of Gazans regularly protested at the border fence, and the country was reeling from internal conflict over the judicial coup laws.”

That I knew. What I didn’t know was that UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed – known as MBZ – was also paying attention. And he was talking with Israeli President Isaac Herzog with whom he maintained friendly relations. The situation in Israel needed to be defused MBZ repeatedly conveyed to Herzog. According to reporting in Haaretz, MBZ “even sent a special enjoy to Israel who met with the prime minister. The emir seemed to sense that the area was on the verge of explosion.”

MBZ also spoke directly with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. MBz’s communication with Netanyahu usually followed a standard procedure, but this time, MBZ initiated the call himself a week and a half before October 7. He warned Netanyahu that Hamas’ leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, was “planning a major operation against Israel.” MBZ was concerned that the action would not only lead to bloodshed but would destabilize the entire region.

Haaretz, citing three foreign senior sources which were familiar with the content of the conversation, revealed its existence for the first time.

“It’s disclosure is the result of extensive research based on dozens of sources in Israel and worldwide, including very senior officials, as well as records, internal documents and correspondence. [1]

One of the key figures in this discussion was a close adviser to bin Zayed, a Palestinian wo had emigrated years ago from Gaza to Abu Dhabi and maintained “strong ties in the Strip.” He stressed that the Emirati ruler impressed on Netanyahu that there needed to be a strong preparation for the threat.

According to the article, the emir stressed to Netanyahu that Sinwar was preparing a major event. “concurrently,, he recommended trying to find an economic solution for the Strip and calming the West Bank to prevent escalation.”

While Bin Zayed urged Natanuahy to take the situation seriously, to his surprise, Netanuahy reacted with relative calm. Netanyahu told Bin Zayed that Hamas intended to operate in the West Bank area and that Israel was prepared for any scenario.

MBZ would later recount the conversation and the warnings he relayed to Netanyahu to CIA Director William J. Burns. MBZ shared with Burns his sense that as he tried to convey to Netanyahu that something was about to explode in Gaza, Netanyahu believed the volatile area was in the West Bank.

The emir hoped that nevertheless, Netanyahu would take action. But, according to Haaretz, “none of them imagined that the prime minister would hear the message but wouldn’t brief the heads of the defense establishment. The head of the Shin Bet, the head of the Mossad, the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff – none of them knew about bin Zayed’s warning (Eldar, 9/8/26).

For months before Netanyahu had been conducting talks with Hamas about a temporary truce aimed at a long-term arrangement for Gaza. Negotiations were being conducted about lifting of the blockade on Gaza, increasing shipments of food and raw materials, establishing a trade zone along the Strip’s border which would provide thousands of jobs. The Egyptians were willing to allow Palestinians to have safe passage to the airport in Sharm el-Sheikh, and there was a proposal to supply them natural gas.

By the summer of 2023 it seemed the economic matters had been solved and negotiations over prisoners were going well. The participants were optimistic. Then, things slowed down. There was speculation that Netanyahu was afraid of reaching an agreement with Hamas, or that he feared his extremist partners in his new government, or he feared that the agreement would leak to the media. Whatever, negotiations stalled for weeks and weeks.

Hamas head Sinwar was displeased. Those involved in the talks tried to reassure him that Netanyahu was distracted by the protests over the judicial overhaul. Amid this turmoil, the perception grew among Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah that Israel was weakened and that the three together could defeat it. Senior Hamas officials tried to convince Iran to finance the attack.

Then, in early September 2023, Sinwar vanished from the negotiations. Thus the channel of contact between Shin Bet and Hamas, managed under Netanyahu’s approval, was cut off.

Then, Sinwar met with one of the participants referred to as “Coal Eyes.” “Tell the Israelis,” Sinwar said “that if they don’t make progress, I’m preparing a huge surprise for them.” Sinwar was using language that implied war. Coal Eyes was afraid to tell Shin Bet, but also afraid not to tell them for fear they would think he was part of the Hamas effort. In yet another meeting between Sinwar and Coal Eyes, Sinwar made it plain that he wanted the Israelis informed of his threat word for word. Still, nothing happened.

Meanwhile, the Emirati ruler decided to hold a conversation with Netanyahu himself. In a 45-minute conversation he conveyed an explicit warning about Sinwar’s intentions. A similar call came from the Egyptians about “a terrifying operation.” But Netanyahu told the Egyptians that Israel was in control in Gaza. It was the West Bank that was the problem and it was the West Bank where they were diverting forces.”

Neither call was passed along to a coordinating meeting about the situation.

After direct warnings from Sinwar about an attack on Israel, and no response from Israel, the Emirati decided to hold a 45-minute conversation with the Prime Minister himself. A similar call was made by the Egyptian intelligence chief, Gen. Abbas Kamel, who warned Netanyahu of “something unusual, a terrifying operation” about to be launched by Hamas. Netanuahy, reportedly told Kamen that Israel was “in the picture” in Gaza, that the problem was the West Bank where they (the Israelis) were diverting forces.

On October 1 the head of the Shin Bet recommended targeting senior Hamas officials, including Sinwar. Netanyahu replied using a standard refrain that bought him time: “Prepare plans for me and I will consider them.” Throughout the meeting the Prime Minister did not mention the calls he had received.

One senior Shin Bet official was quoted as regretting not knowing about the calls. “Perhaps it could also have clarified what was behind his sudden withdrawal from the talks in early September.” It could “have changed out entire assessment picture.”

CHAPTER: ISRAEL

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Eldar, Shlomi (9/8/26) “Revealed: Netanyahu received an explicit warning days before October 7. He didn’t brief Israel’s security chiefs.” Haaretz.

[1] The research was conducted for the new book “Hostages: 843 Days of Abandonment, Kinneret Zmora publishing, In Hebrew by the authors of this article).