Former Mossad Official Denies Prior Warnings from Egypt or UAE

Eyal Tsir Cohen, who served as the head of the Mossad's Foreign Intelligence Cooperation Department in September and October 2023, recently addressed claims regarding warnings from Egypt and the United Arab Emirates before the October 7 massacre. Speaking on Galei Tzahal radio, Cohen stated, "I don't remember intelligence reports about warnings from Mohamed bin Zayed or Sufian Abu Zaida, neither do I remember a visit by Abbas Kamel. If a visit by Abbas Kamel doesn't go through the Tevel Department, that's very unusual, but theoretically, that can happen."

Cohen emphasized that in the numerous discussions he had with Kamel and his team since the attack, there was no mention of any warning from Egypt. He noted, "Since October 7, I've had dozens of hours of meetings with Abbas Kamel and his men; I don't recall this issue ever coming up, even in hallway conversations or side discussions. They never told us they had issued a warning."

These remarks come in response to a Wall Street Journal report claiming that the Egyptian intelligence chief had personally warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about a potential Hamas attack from Gaza just days before the October 7 incident. This warning was reportedly the third alert, following two previous warnings from Egypt that went unheeded.

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The report also indicated that Netanyahu received a separate warning from UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed in September 2023, which suggested that Hamas was preparing for an attack. However, these warnings did not specify the timing or scale of any potential assault.

Netanyahu's office has not responded to inquiries from the Journal and has previously denied that the prime minister had any discussions with Kamel in the months leading up to the October 7 attack. Both Egypt and the UAE have also not commented on the matter.