đ¤ UAE visit confirmed; warning request denied: The UAE confirmed that President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan received Netanyahu on Sunday, September 27, for discussions on bilateral relations. This was the first time a meeting of this kind had been announced in the UAEâs history. The Prime Ministerâs Office said Netanyahu and his wife visited at the presidentâs invitation to strengthen relations and address regional challenges.
AP reported that Netanyahu asked the UAE president to deny having warned him before Hamasâs October 7, 2023, attack, citing an anonymous person who claimed firsthand knowledge of the discussions. The source said the talks focused on a Haaretz investigation alleging that the Emirati leader warned Netanyahu around 10 days before the attack that Yahya Sinwar was planning an âearthquake.â Haaretz alleged that Netanyahu said Israel was prepared but did not relay the warning to senior security officials.
The PMO denied that Netanyahu made the reported request, saying the visit dealt exclusively with bilateral relations and regional challenges. Netanyahu had previously called the Haaretz report an âabsolute lieâ and said he would sue. The UAE said intelligence is shared through âprofessional bodies, not at the level of national leaders.â
Accounts of the visitâs duration and focus also differed. AP reported that Netanyahu spent about four hours in Abu Dhabi, while Channel 13 cited senior Israeli officials who described an approximately six-hour meeting focused primarily on Iran. Channel 13 said it followed a series of recent discussions between the leaders.
The PMO said the Shin Bet filed a complaint with the Chief Military Censor over Channel 12âs reporting of the visit, alleging a serious censorship violation. The complaint cited publication of the flight at 9:38 p.m., while the aircraft was still far from Israeli territory, before its approximately 10:27 p.m. landing. The Shin Bet said the timing endangered Netanyahu, his wife, the delegation, the operation and forces in the field, and exposed methods that could increase risks to future operations. The Mossad also described the leak as a serious threat to the prime minister and delegation.
âď¸ October 7 warnings and planned defamation lawsuits: In a statement reported by Amit Segal, Netanyahuâs office denied that he met or spoke with Abbas Kamel, then Egyptâs intelligence chief, in the months before October 7, or received an Egyptian warning through Israeli intelligence officials. It said Netanyahu instructed that a defamation lawsuit be filed and asserted that he never meets or speaks with foreign intelligence chiefs without their Israeli counterparts present.
The office accused âleft-wing mediaâ of a false campaign to blame Netanyahu for what it described as former Shin Bet chief Ronen Barâs âfailures and crimes.â It also alleged that foreign and hostile actors, including Arab states, were behind âfalse blood libelsâ aimed at replacing Netanyahuâs government with one of left-wing and Arab parties led by Eisenkot, Yair Golan and Lieberman. It claimed such a government would withdraw from Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Judea and Samaria, and establish a Palestinian state.
đŞđ¸ Spainâs chargĂŠ dâaffaires summoned: Israelâs Foreign Ministry summoned Spainâs chargĂŠ dâaffaires, Francisca Pedros, over Youth Minister Sira Regoâs statement that the Spanish public supports a Palestinian state âfrom the river to the sea.â The ministry condemned the remarks as aligned with what it described as the systematic anti-Israel policy of Spainâs government and Prime Minister Pedro SĂĄnchez.
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