Former Mossad official does not recall warnings before October 7 — Jerusalem Post
In Israel, former head of Mossad international diplomacy Eyal Tsir Cohen said he does not recall reports of possible warnings from Egypt and the United Arab Emirates that allegedly reached Israel or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. He said this on Army Radio, the Jerusalem Post reports.
Statement by former Mossad official
According to Cohen, he does not recall reports of warnings from UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan or former senior Fatah official Suleiman Abu Zaida. He also said he does not recall a visit to Israel by Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel.
Cohen suggested that Kamel could theoretically have secretly come to Israel without involving the Mossad’s international diplomacy unit. At the same time, he noted that after October 7 he met repeatedly with Kamel and his team, but the subject of such a visit or warning was not raised during those contacts.
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Reports of possible warnings
Another former Mossad chief, Danny Yatom, told Army Radio that Netanyahu’s recent trip to the UAE to meet bin Zayed was likely connected to reports of warnings before October 7. According to him, there were two or three different sources of warnings.
Earlier, The Atlantic reported that Abbas Kamel allegedly secretly visited Israel 11 days before the attack and warned about Hamas preparing a large-scale assault. The publication claimed that on September 26, 2023, a chartered Cessna aircraft linked to Egyptian intelligence services landed at Ben Gurion Airport, with Kamel on board.
According to Haaretz, the UAE president also warned Netanyahu about a week and a half before October 7 that Hamas was preparing a major operation. The newspaper claimed that this warning was not passed on to Israeli intelligence agencies or the military. The UAE did not comment on this information but said it has maintained open and direct channels of communication with Israel since diplomatic relations were established in 2020.
