Eyal Tsir Cohen, a former head of international diplomacy at the Mossad, told Army Radio on Monday that, contrary to recent reports, he hadn't heard about any warnings from Egypt or the United Arab Emirates to Israel or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before or after October 7, 2023.
"I do not recall any reports regarding a warning from MBZ [Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed] and Sufian Abu Zaida [a former senior Fatah official], nor do I recall a visit by Abbas Kamel [the Egyptian intelligence chief]," Cohen said.
He added that, while Kamel could theoretically have secretly visited Israel without going through the Mossad's international diplomacy division, he had held numerous meetings with Kamel and his team since October 7, with no mention of the visit or any warning ever raised.
Another former Mossad head, Danny Yatom, also told Army Radio on Monday that Netanyahu's recent trip to the UAE to meet with Zayed had likely concerned the reported warnings that he had received ahead of October 7.
"We're talking about two or three different sources that warned," Yatom said. "You can't ignore that."
Egyptian intelligence chief, former Fatah leader, reportedly warned about Oct. 7
Numerous reports of alleged warnings made to Israel and Netanyahu ahead of October 7 have circulated throughout Israeli media.
On Saturday, The Atlantic reported that Kamel secretly visited Israel 11 days before the October 7 attack and delivered a warning that Hamas was preparing for a significant attack and that time to prevent further escalation was running out.
The investigation found that on September 26, 2023, as senior Israeli officials gathered in Jerusalem to mark the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, a chartered Cessna aircraft linked to Egyptian intelligence services landed at Ben-Gurion Airport, with Kamel on board.
Last week, Zaida disclosed information about a message from Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, that he had relayed to Israel three weeks before the October 7 attack in a documentary aired on Al-Ghad.
In the documentary, Zaida said that he had met with Sinwar in Gaza on September 14, 2023, and that during the meeting Sinwar asked him to relay a message to Israel that before the end of that month, Hamas would place “cards” on the negotiating table that would cause an “earthquake,” and that Israel should prepare for the “emptying of the prisons.”
Zaida said he transmitted the message to the Israeli side in both Hebrew and Arabic.
UAE president warned Netanyahu about October 7, 'Haaretz' reports
Haaretz reported earlier this month that Zayed had warned Netanyahu a week and a half before October 7 that Hamas was planning a major operation against Israel. The warning was not passed to Israeli intelligence agencies or the military, Haaretz reported.
The UAE has declined to comment on the Haaretz report but has said that the UAE and Israel have maintained "open and direct lines of communication" since establishing diplomatic relations in 2020.
Jerusalem Post Staff, Amichai Stein, Idan Kweller, and Walla contributed to this report.