WHETHER or not the bizarre flydubai caper last week was a false-flag operation, Benjamin Netanyahu certainly seemed well-prepared to milk the drama for every possible drop of propaganda. Barely credible tales of derring-do were widely broadcast soon after the incident.
Various discrepancies in the official narrative and supplementary visual components have attracted widespread scepticism. But just days after warning of unspecified attacks in the run-up to the Oct 27 elections, the Israeli PM desperately needed a distraction. Seemingly irrefutable evidence has been piling up that he was personally warned about a possibly unprecedented Hamas action just days before the Oct 7 Gaza breakout three years ago. The information came from two of Israel’s leading allies in the Arab world: the UAE and Egypt.
The external warnings followed efforts by Hamas itself, during indirect discussions between the two sides about easing the Gaza blockade and releasing Palestinian prisoners, to inform the Israeli authorities about impending violence if the talks failed. Sufian Abu Zaida, reportedly a senior Fatah official picked by Israel as a mediator, who was trusted by both Hamas and Israel’s domestic security agency Shin Bet, relayed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s threat of an imminent ‘earthquake’ to his Israeli interlocutors, as well as to Palestinian Authority officials. Shin Bet’s head then briefed Netanyahu, but urgent talks involving military and intelligence officials produced no action.
Abu Zaida then briefed a contact in the UAE presidency, which led to the Gulf nation’s intelligence outfit exchanging notes with Shin Bet. After no visible effects ensued, the Emirati president, Mohammed bin Zayed, was persuaded to directly contact Netanyahu — and is reported to have been surprised by the Israeli PM’s insouciance. Meanwhile, following similar warnings from Cairo, Egypt’s intelligence chief, Abbas Kamel, flew to Israel to convey his concerns, advising that the economic stranglehold over Gaza be eased to avert a catastrophe. His efforts, too, went unheeded.
