They Have Ears, but They Hear Not: Israel's Shameful Hubris
An investigation published Friday by The Atlantic magazine joins a series of reports on Egypt's prolonged efforts before October 7, 2023 to warn Israel that Hamas was readying a major attack on Israel.
According to The Atlantic, on September 26, 2023, a small plane carrying Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel landed in an isolated area of Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport. During the 67 minutes the plane was on the ground, Kamel warned senior Israeli officials that Hamas was planning something big and recommended that Israel grant Hamas economic concessions to avert conflict.
In December 2025, the Israel Hayom daily reported that two weeks before the October 7 attack, an Egyptian Foreign Ministry delegation visited Israel and warned officials that Gaza and the West Bank were about to explode. Two Israeli diplomatic sources confirmed that an Egyptian official sent a specific warning to Israel's National Security Council. The newspaper also reported on the mysterious plane.
Also on Friday, The New York Times referenced the disclosure by Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval (Haaretz, September 8), according to which United Arab Emirates leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed had warned Benjamin Netanyahu of an imminent Hamas attack 10 days before October 7. Five former senior Israeli officials told the Times that the prime minister did not pass on the warning to his security chiefs and that he opposed a proposal to strike senior Hamas figures because he feared it would sabotage normalization efforts with Saudi Arabia.
Contacts with Saudi Arabia have not resulted in a peace agreement. The Arab Peace Initiative, which proposes normalization with Israel in exchange for a arrangement with the Palestinians based on a two-state solution, has been awaiting an Israeli response for 25 years. Intelligence cooperation between Egypt and Israel has continued despite Israel's political recalcitrance, the deepening of the occupation and its injustices and despite new occupations in Lebanon and Syria.
Of course Egypt had a political and security interest in prevent the October 7 catastrophe. But what did Egypt get in return for going out of its way to save Israel from itself?
When the time came to rescue the Israeli hostages – victims of the diplomatic, intelligence and operational failure – staffers in the Prime Minister's Office spread false propaganda against Egypt. That was so the task of mediating with Hamas could be entrusted to their client, Qatar.
In addition to the matter of Netanyahu's corruption trial, which has gone on far too long, the issue of Egypt's warnings that were ignored and the spurious incitement against Egypt must be among the topics placed before a state commission of inquiry.
In Netanyahu's address to the UN General Assembly on Thursday, he reiterated the mantra of "the whole world is against us" and depicted Israel as a small country surrounded by enemies. We can only hope that the government that is formed after the October election can rehabilitate Israel ties with the West and with the Arab world while renewing the diplomatic process in the Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese arenas. Israel's long-standing peace with Egypt proves that this is possible.
The above article is Haaretz's lead editorial, as published in the Hebrew and English newspapers in Israel.