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."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly rejected reports that Egypt had warned Israel beforehand that Hamas was plotting an attack on the Israeli territory, and gave instructions to file a defamation lawsuit against its authors.
ReplyDeleteThe Wall Street Journal previously reported, citing sources, that Egypt had warned Israel multiple times about an impending attack by Hamas. One such warning was conveyed to Israel by Abbas Kamel who at the time headed the Egyptian General Intelligence Service.