Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly traveled to the United Arab Emirates over the weekend to ask UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to deny reports that he had warned the Israeli prime minister about a threat from Hamas before the Oct. 7, 2023 attack, the Associated Press reported Monday.
A person familiar with the matter told the news agency that the talks focused on a report published by Haaretz earlier this month claiming that the Emirati leader had warned Netanyahu of an impending Hamas attack shortly before the terrorist organization's Oct. 7 assault, which triggered the war.
According to the person, who said he had firsthand knowledge of the meeting, Netanyahu asked Sheikh Mohamed to deny the report. The Prime Minister's Office had previously denied the Haaretz account.
The person familiar with the meeting, as well as a regional official who had been briefed on it, spoke on condition of anonymity because of the secret nature of the visit.
The UAE Foreign Ministry declined to comment on reports of the meeting, but said the country maintains "open and direct channels of communication" with Israel and shares "all relevant intelligence information" with it.
