Eyal Tsir Cohen, who was the head of the Mossad's Foreign Intelligence Cooperation Department (Tevel) in September and October of 2023, spoke to Galei Tzahal radio on Monday about recent reports of warnings that Egypt and the United Arab Emirates supposedly sent before the October 7th Massacre.
"I don't remember intelligence reports about warnings from Mohamed bin Zayed or Sufian Abu Zaida, neither do I remember a visit by Abbas Kamel," Tsir Cohen said. "If a visit by Abbas Kamel doesn't go through the Tevel Department, that's very unusual, but theoretically, that can happen."
He said that in the many conversations he had with Kamel and his office since the massacre, no mention was made of a warning from Egypt. "Since October 7th, I've had dozens of hours of meetings with Abbas Kamel and his men; I don't recall this issue ever coming up, even in hallway conversations or side discussions. They never told us they had issued a warning."
Tsir Cohen's remarks follow a Wall Street Journal report that the Egyptian intelligence chief at the time personally warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the possibility of an impending Hamas attack from Gaza days before the October 7, 2023 massacre,
According to the report, this was the third warning, after Egypt's two previous warnings to Israel about signs of an approaching attack that were not acted upon. Kamel’s reported call to Netanyahu constituted a third alert and had not previously been made public.
The report also said Netanyahu received a separate warning from United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed in September 2023 regarding indications that Hamas was preparing an attack. The warnings did not specify when an attack might occur or indicate its expected scale.
Netanyahu’s office did not respond to the Journal’s questions and has previously denied that the prime minister spoke with Kamel in the months before October 7. Egypt and the UAE also did not respond to requests for comment.