The Israeli daily Haaretz has revealed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was warned about the Hamas attack a few days before October 7th. However, there were no warnings to the IDF or Mossad. Previously, secret negotiations with Hamas failed.

On September 8, the Israeli daily newspaper published Haaretz onereport, which attracted widespread attention beyond Israel. It shows that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a warning from the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, almost a week and a half before the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. In a conversation that lasted approximately 45 minutes, Bin Zayed reportedly informed the Israeli prime minister that Hamas's then leader, Yahya Sinwar, was planning a major operation against Israel.

Although Bin Zayed clearly conveyed to Netanyahu that the situation was serious and that Israel needed to prepare as quickly as possible, Netanyahu is said to have withheld the information from the Israeli army and the secret services. He is said to have assured the President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that Israel was prepared for all scenarios.

Haaretz says three high-level sources are familiar with the contents of the phone call. A Palestinian adviser to Bin Zayed, who is said to have had close contacts in the Gaza Strip, was also said to have been present during the phone call.

Secret negotiations between Israel and Hamas in 2023

The phone call was probably preceded by negotiations between the Israeli government and Hamas. This canal is said to have been completed in spring 2023. Negotiations then took place continuously about him. Haaretz describes that this channel was personally overseen by Netanyahu. In addition to negotiations about gradually lifting the blockade of food and raw materials to Gaza, negotiations are also said to have taken place about the establishment of trade zones and a safe passage route to Egypt.

An agreement on the key economic data is said to have been reached in the summer of 2023. A prisoner exchange in which four Israeli prisoners were to be exchanged for 30 Palestinian prisoners also appeared to be imminent. Despite an agreement in the negotiations, Netanyahu is said to have repeatedly postponed the last necessary step, the consultation of the Israeli Ministerial Committee for Hostages and Missing Persons.

At the beginning of September 2023, the negotiations are said to have been abruptly broken off by Hamas. In a final message to an intermediary, Sinwar said he was planning a "big surprise" if the Israelis made no progress and an "earthquake" was expected. The mediator interpreted this as an explicit warning of war.

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Bin Zayed addresses Netanyahu directly

This informant is said to have informed not the Israeli government of this threat, but rather the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He is then said to have informed the Israeli domestic secret service Shin Bet. A meeting between high-ranking Israeli officials is said to have been held without results.

Bin Zayed is said to have sought direct contact with Netanyahu. The 45-minute conversation between the two is said to have taken place at the end of September 2023. In it, bin Zayed is said to have explicitly conveyed the warnings and intentions of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to Netanyahu. Instead of passing it on to the secret services or military, the Israeli prime minister is said to have decided to keep the information to himself. This was followed on October 7, 2023, when around 1,200 people were killed in a Hamas attack and fighting with the Israeli military.

Not the first exposure

But this is not the first time that the media has reported on Israel's prior knowledge of the attack on October 7th. Already in November 2023reportedabout it the New York Times. Accordingly, Israel received a 40-page document describing the Hamas attack more than a year earlier. Apparently the Israeli military considered the plan to be too ambitious and therefore unrealistic. A military analyst also warned in July 2023 of a Hamas military exercise that was very similar to the later attacks.

However, it is unclear whether leading Israeli politicians such as Benjamin Netanyahu knew about the 40-page document. Lower levels may have withheld the information. However, Haaretz's new investigation claims that Netanyahu himself was aware of the plans.

In the midst of judicial reform

The Israeli government had in January 2023 shortly after being sworn infar-reaching judicial reformsplanned - many of them with the aim of evading direct control authorities. Among other things, the control of parliament by an independent judiciary should be abolished.

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This should mean that Parliament can pass laws even if the Supreme Court had rejected them. Even in Israel, these judicial reforms were not easily accepted by the population. For weeks, tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated against the government's plans.

Netanyahu and his coalition increasingly lost support among the population. It was only with the Hamas attack at the beginning of October 2023 that the project took a back seat. With the start of hostilities in the Gaza Strip and ultimately the genocide against the Palestinians, the incumbent government was able to consolidate itself and once again focus its policies on the expulsion and destruction of the Palestinians.

Genocide and expulsion

Whether the Israeli government accepted the October 7 attacks in order to increase approval of it through the subsequent genocide remains speculation. But the dynamic can also often be seen in other wars and conflicts: high-ranking politicians and entire governments accept further escalations and the continuation of hostilities in order to maintain their power.

In the case of Israel, there is also the additional peculiarity that the Zionist state ideology is widespread in almost all sections of the population. Decisions and actions to maintain apartheid within Israel and Palestine receive high levels of popular support. For this reason, too, the government under Netanyahu was able to consolidate itself again despite the government crisis by starting hostilities in the Gaza Strip.

The ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as well as further territorial conquests in Lebanon have been the dominant theme of Israeli domestic policy ever since. This is how theMarch 2025Parts of the planned judicial reform were also passed without major resistance. Netanyahuhimselfrejects the report from Haaretz resolutely backed down. He threatens the newspaper and the journalists with legal action.

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Parliamentary elections are coming

While the Israeli army continues to target targets in southern Lebanonattacksand Netanyahu's government member, the far-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, from oneexpulsionAs we speak of up to two million Palestinians in a few years, the country is preparing for its first elections in almost four years.

The parliamentary elections in Israel are taking place on October 27th. A neck-and-neck race is emerging between the incumbent Prime Minister Netanyahu and the head of the Jashar party, Gadi Eisenkot.

Until nowEisenkot's party is just ahead of the ruling Likud party. The Haaretz report is also making waves within the Israeli population, which could lead to further support for the challenger.

However, it is still unclear how the situation in Israel will develop between now and the election date. Netanyahu himself has announced that he will not allow an independent investigation into the Hamas attack and plans to sue Haaretz for its report.

The postNetanyahu is said to have known about Hamas's plans to attack on October 7thappeared firstperspective.