The President's Residence said Wednesday that President Isaac Herzog's conversations with the United Arab Emirates 'did not deal with security matters,' according to a statement reported by Israeli media.
The President's Residence issued a statement Wednesday clarifying that President Isaac Herzog's conversations with the United Arab Emirates "did not deal with security matters." The clarification, reported by ynet, follows President Herzog's sharp denial on Tuesday that he received any warning from the UAE ahead of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack.
On Tuesday Sep 8, a series of denials emerged from Israeli leaders in response to a Haaretz investigation alleging that the UAE had warned both Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Herzog before the attack. The Prime Minister's Office dismissed the report as an "absolute lie" and said no call took place between Netanyahu and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed from early September to Oct. 7. Netanyahu personally denied the claim and instructed his lawyers to file a defamation suit against Haaretz. A source in Netanyahu's circle said the last call between the two leaders before the attack was in early 2023, and a second call occurred a week after the massacre. President Herzog issued his own denial on Tuesday, saying his conversations with bin Zayed "did not at all" deal with security matters, Hamas, or Sinwar.
As The Zioneer reported, the denials all stem from a Haaretz investigation published Tuesday, which claimed the UAE had conveyed a warning to Israeli officials. The newspaper has stood by its report despite the threat of legal action. No evidence of such warnings has been provided by Haaretz publicly, while Israeli officials have offered call logs and entry records to support their denials.
The precise content of Herzog's conversations with the UAE remains undisclosed. The President's Residence did not specify what the talks did address. Haaretz has not retracted its investigation.
7 developments
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Source and signal
- Open-source intake