TEHRAN – A UAE official has declined to explicitly confirm or deny reports that President Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ) warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of an imminent Hamas attack before October 7, 2023.

Responding to a recent query from The National, the official said, “The UAE discusses security matters with other countries through the relevant entities, and does not discuss such details at the level of national leaders.”

The response has prompted different and seemingly contradictory interpretations of whether MBZ personally warned Netanyahu about the planned attack.

The National, an Abu Dhabi-based newspaper, is owned by International Media Investments, a media group controlled by MBZ’s brother.

With Israeli elections approaching, the issue has gained political significance, particularly in debates over the government’s handling of security threats before October 7.

Middle East Eye published a report titled “UAE dodges question on pre-October 7 warning to Netanyahu,” interpreting the Emirati response as an evasion rather than a denial.

The controversy stems from a report by Haaretz, which stated that Netanyahu had been personally warned by MBZ approximately 10 days before Hamas’s attack. According to The Times of Israel, a source familiar with the conversation confirmed that MBZ had warned Netanyahu that Hamas was preparing a major offensive.

The reported 45-minute conversation allegedly included a specific warning that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was preparing a large-scale operation. The report further claimed that Netanyahu failed to inform Israeli security officials or take action based on the warning.

The Times of Israel offered a different interpretation of The National’s report. According to the Israeli newspaper, the UAE did not confirm or deny the allegations but issued a statement emphasizing that the two countries maintained “open lines of communication” through which “all relevant intelligence has been and continues to be communicated.”

This wording was interpreted as leaving open the possibility that intelligence had been shared, without confirming that MBZ had personally warned Netanyahu.

Netanyahu has denied the allegations and threatened to sue Haaretz, but has yet to officially file a lawsuit.

Meanwhile, the Hebrew-language outlet Ynet reported that the Emirati statement followed days of Israeli pressure on the UAE to deny the contents of the Haaretz report.

The Jerusalem Post, however, offered a more direct interpretation of the UAE response, reporting that the Emirati official had rejected claims that MBZ personally spoke with Netanyahu about a possible Hamas attack.

The conflicting accounts leave a central question unresolved: Was the UAE’s statement intended to avoid confirming a reported conversation between the two leaders, or did it amount to a rejection of the allegation that MBZ had personally warned Netanyahu?