Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced he will sue Haaretz newspaper and journalist Shlomi Eldar over claims that he was personally warned by the United Arab Emirates about an imminent Hamas attack roughly ten days before the 7 October 2023 assault, but failed to alert Israel's defence chiefs. The allegation, drawn from a new book by Eldar and Ruth Yuval, has become politically explosive amid an ongoing election campaign, with opposition leaders branding Netanyahu "unfit" for office and demanding an investigation into what he knew beforehand.

According to the report, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed held a 45-minute call with Netanyahu in late September 2023, passing on intelligence that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar had described plans for a "terrifying" and "extraordinary" operation, while Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel reportedly gave a similar warning. Netanyahu allegedly responded calmly and did not raise the warnings at a security meeting on 1 October. His office has dismissed the claims as an "absolute lie," saying call logs and building entry records show no contact with an Emirati representative during the period. The 7 October attack killed over 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, triggering wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran in which more than 73,000 Palestinians have since been killed, according to Gaza's health ministry.