On Sept. 8, 2026, the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, published a bombshell report that draws from the forthcoming book Hostages: 843 Days of Abandonment by journalists Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval. Their reporting is based on dozens of sources, documents, and correspondence.

The report’s most significant assertion is that, about 10 days before October 7, 2023, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ) called Netanyahu from the presidential palace in Abu Dhabi and spoke to him for about forty-five minutes.

• MBZ warned that then-Hamas Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar was preparing a major operation against Israel. Sinwar had described it to a former Palestinian official (a Fatah-linked intermediary) as a “zilzal” (earthquake), a “terrifying operation,” or “the mother of all surprises.” That message reached an Emirati adviser and then MBZ.

• MBZ expressed concern that the attack would cause heavy bloodshed, destabilize the region, and damage the Abraham Accords. He urged Netanyahu to take it seriously.

• Netanyahu responded calmly. He said he assessed that Hamas was more likely to act in the West Bank and that Israel was prepared for any scenario.

• Netanyahu did not pass the warning to Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, or Mossad. Both Bar and Halevi later told Haaretz they had not been informed. A senior Shin Bet official said knowing about it “could have changed our entire assessment picture.”

• MBZ was surprised by Netanyahu’s reaction and later described the conversation to then-CIA Director William Burns.

Netanyahu’s office has called it an “absolute lie” and “malicious fabrication,” saying no such call appears in phone or visitor logs, and he has instructed lawyers to sue. Haaretz has stood by the reporting. The UAE has not issued a denial.

An Emirati source familiar with the call confirmed the account to The Times of Israel. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also publicly said the report was true.

I was not surprised to hear news of this report, as I have always found it wildly implausible that Netanyahu and his people were taken by surprise on October 7. Only later was it drawn to my attention that Charlie Kirk shared my perception and wasn’t as shy I was about voicing it.

It’s fitting that this is being revealed just before the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, as it has become clear that some elements of U.S., Saudi, and Israeli intelligence knew the September 11 attacks were coming.

Indeed, Mossad agents were observed filming the event from the New Jersey side of the Hudson River in a way that indicated foreknowledge. As I document in my new book, Mind Viruses: America’s Irrational Obsessions:

Especially suspicious were five Israeli nationals who worked for a moving company in New Jersey. Shortly after the planes flew into the Twin Towers, they were observed on the roof of a white moving van, parked in a lot near Liberty State Park in Jersey City, directly across the river from the burning buildings. According to the eyewitness, “They seemed to be taking a movie. They were like happy, you know . . . they didn’t look shocked to me. I thought it was strange.”

The woman noted the license plate number and gave it to the local police, which stopped the van near Giants Stadium about four hours after the attacks. Searching the van, the officers found $4,700 in cash hidden in a sock, two foreign passports, and box cutters. While some US intelligence officials believed the moving company was a front for a surveillance operation, the FBI eventually concluded (for reasons it never elucidated) that the men had no foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks. After being detained for seventy-one days, they were deported to Israel on immigration violations. Back in Israel, three of them—Oded Ellner, Omer Marmari, and Yaron Shmuel—went on the news program LaHadashot to discuss their adventures. Oded Ellner stated they were at the site to “document the event.”

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IPAK-EDU is grateful to FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse™) as this piece was originally published there and is included in this news feed with mutual agreement. Read More