Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu acknowledged Tuesday night that Egypt’s intelligence chief traveled to Israel less than two weeks before the October 7 Hamas massacre, but categorically denied meeting with him or receiving a warning from him about an impending attack.

The admission comes amid renewed scrutiny of reports that Egyptian officials attempted to alert Israel to an approaching security threat in the weeks and months preceding the massacre. Netanyahu maintained that he had no involvement in the September 26, 2023, visit by Abbas Kamel, who was then serving as Egypt’s intelligence director, and said he wants to establish exactly which Israeli officials met with the Egyptian visitor.

During an appearance on Channel 14’s “The Patriots” Tuesday evening, Netanyahu confirmed that an Egyptian aircraft had arrived in Israel shortly before the Hamas assault. However, he disputed suggestions that the visit included a meeting with him.

“Since when does an intelligence chief come and speak with a head of state? That has never happened, not even once. There’s no such thing,” Netanyahu said.

The prime minister called for the circumstances surrounding Kamel’s visit to be examined, saying security camera recordings should make it possible to determine whom the Egyptian intelligence chief encountered while in Israel.

“I want to know who he met with. There are cameras, there is footage, and I want to know the truth, because the truth is that I did not meet with him. Whoever met with him is trying to pin it on me,” he said.

Netanyahu’s comments follow a report published last month by The Atlantic alleging that Kamel arrived in Israel on September 26, 2023, carrying intelligence about a possible Hamas attack. According to that account, the Egyptian official conveyed his concerns to senior Israeli figures during the visit.

The Prime Minister’s Office rejected those allegations when they first emerged, dismissing the account as “a false and recycled claim intended to mislead the public.”

Subsequent reporting by The Wall Street Journal raised additional questions about what Israeli leaders knew before October 7. The newspaper reported that Kamel had spoken with Netanyahu by telephone in early October 2023 and warned him about the danger of an approaching attack.

That telephone conversation was described in the report as the third warning Egyptian officials had delivered concerning Hamas’s intentions.

The Wall Street Journal also reported that Egypt had communicated an earlier, more general warning in June 2023, several months before the massacre. According to the account, the initial message did not identify a specific attack plan or provide a timetable.

Another warning reportedly came from the United Arab Emirates. In September 2023, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed was said to have informed Israel about indications that Hamas might be preparing an operation.

The reports suggest that Egyptian and Emirati concerns were prompted by changes in the behavior of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, as well as an increase in meetings involving terrorist organizations operating in Gaza. Intelligence officials reportedly interpreted those developments as signs that Hamas might be preparing a significant escalation.

However, the warnings were described as lacking precise operational information. They did not identify October 7 as the planned date of an attack, nor did they reveal the scope or methods of the assault that ultimately took place.

Additional reporting by The Atlantic indicates that Kamel’s September visit was unusually brief, lasting approximately one hour. The Egyptian intelligence chief reportedly met Israeli security officials at Ben Gurion Airport and urged measures, including economic concessions, that he believed might prevent a confrontation with Hamas.

The visit took place while senior Israeli officials were attending a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War. Netanyahu said during Tuesday’s interview that he was participating in a memorial ceremony at the time and therefore had not met with Kamel.

The Atlantic’s investigation, based on interviews with officials from several countries and an examination of flight information, also described written warnings reportedly delivered to Israeli officials in the period immediately preceding the Hamas attack.

The Wall Street Journal’s subsequent account went further, alleging that Kamel personally contacted Netanyahu by telephone in the final days before October 7. Netanyahu has denied receiving such a warning, leaving a significant dispute between the prime minister’s account and the claims attributed to Egyptian and other officials.

The controversy has renewed demands for a comprehensive examination of the intelligence and decision-making failures that preceded the massacre. Opposition figures, including former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, have called for an independent state commission of inquiry to determine what warnings reached Israel’s political and security leadership and how they were handled.

Following Netanyahu’s Tuesday interview, Eisenkot sharply criticized the prime minister’s explanation, accusing him of dishonesty and describing him as being in “complete panic.”

Netanyahu, meanwhile, has continued to reject allegations that he was personally warned of the impending massacre, maintaining that responsibility for the intelligence failures must be examined within the security establishment.

His acknowledgment that Kamel was in Israel on September 26 establishes one element of the previously disputed reports. The identity of the Israeli officials who received the Egyptian intelligence chief, what information he conveyed to them, and whether those warnings ultimately reached Netanyahu remain unresolved.

{Matzav.com}