Netanyahu's Office: "The Prime Minister Was Not Warned About the October 7 Attack"

The Israeli Prime Minister's Office denied media reports that Benjamin Netanyahu was warned about the planned Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. The denial was prompted by a Wall Street Journal publication about a phone call from Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel. The office stated that the prime minister did not meet or speak with Kamel, and that Egypt officially refuted this version in 2023.

The Israeli Prime Minister's Office under Benjamin Netanyahu issued an official denial of Western media reports that the head of government was warned about the planned Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. The statement was prompted by a publication in the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, which claimed that days before the attack, Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel called Netanyahu. The publication's sources also said that two previous warnings from Kamel were ignored in Jerusalem. The Prime Minister's Office stated: "This claim was refuted at the time, and now it is being repeated to mislead the Israeli public. On October 11, 2023, Egypt officially denied warning Israel about the attack. In the months leading up to the attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not meet or speak with Abbas Kamel, and no Israeli intelligence official conveyed such a warning to the prime minister." Earlier, on September 26, The Atlantic magazine reported that Kamel secretly visited Israel 11 days before the attack to warn about Hamas preparing a major operation. The magazine did not establish who exactly Kamel met, but sources from seven countries confirmed the purpose of the visit. It was emphasized that the Egyptian warning did not contain a specific date, target, or description of a large-scale invasion.