Netanyahu's office denies Atlantic claim of Egyptian October 7 warning
The denial revives a dispute over whether Israel had advance intelligence before Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack.
What we know
- Israel's Prime Minister's Office said in a post on X that an allegation in The Atlantic — that Egypt warned Israel ahead of the October 7 attack — is false. [1]
- The office said Egypt itself officially denied on October 11, 2023, that it had warned Israel of the attack. [1]
- The office said Prime Minister Netanyahu neither met nor spoke with Abbas Kamel, then head of Egypt's General Intelligence Service, in the months before October 7. [1]
- The office said no Israeli intelligence official conveyed such a warning to Netanyahu. [1]
- Not yet confirmed: The source does not detail what The Atlantic's report itself said; only Israel's characterization and denial of it are available.
Israel's Prime Minister's Office said in a post on X on Sept. 26 that it was responding to what it called "the lies in The Atlantic," rejecting a claim that Egypt had warned Israel in advance of Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack.
The office said the allegation "is false," adding that it "was denied at the time and is being recycled to manipulate the Israeli public."
According to the post, Egypt officially denied on October 11, 2023, that it had warned Israel ahead of the attack.
The Prime Minister's Office also said that in the months before October 7, Prime Minister Netanyahu neither met nor spoke with Abbas Kamel, then head of Egypt's General Intelligence Service. It said no Israeli intelligence official conveyed such a warning to Netanyahu.
"Recycled lies will not become true, no matter how often they are repeated," the Prime Minister's Office said.