Netanyahu's Lawyer Sends Formal Libel Warning Letter to Haaretz; Paper Says It 'Won't Hesitate to Expose Truth in Court'

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's legal team sent Haaretz a formal pre-suit warning letter on Thursday, September 10, 2026, threatening a libel lawsuit over the paper's September 8 report that UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan warned Netanyahu roughly 10 days before October 7, 2023 that Hamas was planning a major operation, and that Netanyahu never briefed Israel's security chiefs on the call. Haaretz responded the same day, saying the letter would not change its position and calling its reporting an 'in-depth, well-sourced journalistic investigation into a matter of utmost public interest,' adding it 'won't hesitate to expose the truth in court.' Netanyahu's office reiterated that internal reviews by the Prime Minister's Office, National Security Council and military secretariat found no record of any Netanyahu-Bin Zayed conversation between early September and October 7, 2023, and cast the report as politically motivated ahead of the October 27 election. Al Jazeera and other outlets noted the dispute is intensifying as the third October 7 anniversary approaches, with the unresolved question of advance warnings increasingly central to the election campaign.