The Biden administration was not aware of any specific warning from the United Arab Emirates that Hamas was planning a major terror attack before the October 7 massacre, two sources familiar with the details told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.
Even in the period after the massacre, Biden administration officials did not hear that the UAE had issued a specific warning, the sources told the Post.
The fact that the Biden administration was not aware that a warning was issued does not mean the UAE did not convey a message to Israeli leadership. However, it is reasonable to assume that if a significant warning had been issued, the Biden administration would have learned of it from the Emiratis, either before the massacre or certainly afterward.
The comments follow a report initially published by Haaretz on Tuesday, stating that UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ) spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over a week before the massacre, talking for approximately 45 minutes.
During the conversation, MBZ reportedly said that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was planning a “major move” against Israel and expressed concern that the incident could lead to bloodshed, destabilize the region, and even undermine the Abraham Accords.
The report further claimed that then-CIA director William Burns heard from MBZ that the latter had attempted to convey a message to Netanyahu that “something is about to explode” in the region.
Despite these claims, Biden administration officials were not aware of any such specific warning.
Notably, the UAE did warn senior US and Israeli officials that Israeli actions and rhetoric were “putting regional stability at risk,” in the period leading up to the massacre.
In March 2023, UAE businessman Khaldoon al-Mubarak, a senior advisor to MBZ, traveled to Israel and conveyed a message to senior Israeli officials that “the direction in which the government is heading is in complete contradiction to the Abraham Accords, and that some politicians are even encouraging violence.”
“This runs contrary to the spirit of the agreements and the current conduct, and puts regional stability at risk,” Mubarak said at the time.
“The UAE’s engagement since October 7 has consistently been aimed at de-escalation, regional stability, and preventing violence,” the UAE’s Foreign Ministry stated on Tuesday.
“Officials in the UAE and Israel have maintained open and direct lines of communication since the beginning of relations more than five years ago. Whenever necessary, all relevant intelligence has been and continues to be shared between the relevant parties,” the ministry added.