Benjamin Netanyahu’s legal team has been instructed to initiate a defamation lawsuit against Israeli outlet Ha‑retz, following the newspaper’s claim that United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed warned the prime minister of Hamas’s planned attack on 7 October 2023.
The report, drawn from book excerpts published by Ha‑retz, alleges that in late September 2023 a UAE embassy representative contacted Netanyahu’s office to relay a confidential conversation between the UAE president and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. It claims the UAE warned that Sinwar had informed a former Palestinian official that Hamas was preparing a “major operation” described as an “earthquake,” potentially destabilising the region. Netanyahu’s office dismisses the claim, saying no warning came from the UAE and calling the report part of a “sinister plot.”
Ha‑retz refuses to back down, asserting that its coverage rests on thorough investigative research of dozens of sources and documents, and aims to expose a public matter of paramount importance, not to silence journalistic criticism.
The controversy arrives amid a heated Israeli parliamentary campaign, with polls on 27 October viewed as a referendum on Netanyahu. Critics have long accused the prime minister of failing to act promptly after the Oct‑7 assault, when Hamas militants stormed Israeli communities, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Israel has responded with an extensive military campaign in Gaza, reporting over 73,000 civilian casualties according to Hamas‑run health data.
The report also suggests that Netanyahu did not brief key national security leaders, including Israeli domestic security agency Shin Bet, intelligence service Mossad, and the army’s chief of staff, about the UAE conversation. The UAE’s ministry of foreign affairs, however, stated that direct lines of communication with Israel remain open and that all relevant intelligence is exchanged as needed.
Four leading opposition politicians—Gadi Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett, Avigdor Lieberman and Yair Golan—issued a joint statement demanding a formal investigation into the alleged mishandling of the warning, calling Netanyahu and his allies “unfit to continue in office.”
The legal battle highlights tensions between media freedom, governmental accountability and the highly charged geopolitical situation in the Middle East.
