Netanyahu Sues Hebrew Media Over Reports of Warnings Before October 7

He added in his claims: "It is no coincidence that these lies are being published now, ahead of the elections (in October), by political opponents and hostile foreign entities (unnamed), who want to overthrow the right-wing government led by me, and install a left-wing government including Arab parties led by Gadi Eisenkot (leader of the Yesh Atid party), Yair Golan (leader of the Democrats) and Avigdor Lieberman (leader of Yisrael Beiteinu) and Naftali Bennett (leader of the Together party), which will establish a Palestinian state."

He continued: "Ahead of Election Day, they will continue to spread lies in order to obscure the real question in the elections: either the right or Palestine."

Netanyahu did not specify the channels covered by his lawsuit, but Hebrew Channel 12 said that the Prime Minister filed a defamation lawsuit against it, as well as against the Haaretz and Yedioth Ahronoth newspapers, the Ynet news website, and several journalists.

Haaretz had revealed on September 8 that UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed had a phone call with Netanyahu about 10 days before October 7, and spoke with him for 45 minutes.

The newspaper added at the time that the UAE President conveyed to Netanyahu "a clear warning that Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza (at the time), was planning a major move against Israel."

According to the newspaper, "Netanyahu did not inform the leaders of the security establishment of the details of this conversation."

Later, many Hebrew media outlets circulated the warnings, including those against which Netanyahu filed a lawsuit.

Following the Haaretz report, Netanyahu's office described what the newspaper published as "absolute lies," saying that the Prime Minister did not speak with the UAE President during that period and did not receive any warning.

The UAE Foreign Ministry said that the government "does not comment on reports or speculation in the media regarding conversations between government leaders."

The ministry noted that government entities in both the UAE and Israel have "maintained open and direct communication channels since the start of relations between the two countries over 5 years ago."

Israeli military, intelligence, and political officials described the October 7 attack as an unprecedented security and military failure in Israel's history.

While officials took some responsibility for this failure, Netanyahu refused to take any responsibility for it, blaming the army.

Netanyahu has been heading the current government since late 2022, which is described as the most right-wing in Israel's history, while he has been wanted since 2024 to appear before the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes in Gaza.

Since October 8, 2023, Israel, with US support, has been waging a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of over 74,000 Palestinians and injuries to over 175,000, most of them children and women.