Netanyahu in Abu Dhabi as Oct 7 warning report draws scrutiny — SkimNews
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- Netanyahu met UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, according to a senior Israeli official who spoke to Reuters; neither Netanyahu's office nor the UAE foreign ministry issued immediate comment on the meeting.
- Haaretz reported that Sheikh Mohammed warned Netanyahu roughly a week and a half before the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that the group was planning a major operation, and that the warning was not passed to Israeli intelligence agencies or the military.
- Netanyahu denied the Haaretz report and threatened legal action against the newspaper, while opposition leaders accuse him of bearing responsibility for security failures preceding the Hamas attack as he fights a difficult reelection campaign.
- The UAE previously told Reuters that security matters are discussed with other countries through "relevant entities" but not "at the level of national leaders," and the Emiratis have declined to confirm a reported March 26 meeting in the oasis city of Al-Ain that Netanyahu's office described as a "secret visit."
- The Abraham Accords relationship established in 2020 has given Abu Dhabi a channel for regional influence and communication with Washington, and the UAE says it has maintained "open and direct lines of communication" with Israel since normalization.
Why it matters: Netanyahu is simultaneously fighting legal threats and reelection attacks over the Oct 7 intelligence failure while meeting the very leader Haaretz says tried to warn him — and the UAE is distancing from the narrative by insisting talks happen below head-of-state level. The Abu Dhabi visit preserves the Abraham Accords diplomatic lifeline even as accountability pressure on Netanyahu intensifies at home.
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