Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Tuesday evening that an Egyptian aircraft landed in Israel just days before the October 7 massacre, but insisted that he did not meet with Egypt's then-intelligence chief, Abbas Kamel, and does not know whom Kamel met during his visit.
Speaking in an interview on Channel 14's “The Patriots", Netanyahu acknowledged that the visit had taken place while firmly denying that he had personally met with the Egyptian official.
"Since when does an intelligence chief come and speak with a head of state? That has never happened, not even once. There's no such thing," Netanyahu said.
The Prime Minister also demanded an investigation into the circumstances of the visit.
"I want to know who he met with. There are cameras, there is footage, and I want to know the truth, because the truth is that I did not meet with him. Whoever met with him is trying to pin it on me," he said.
Netanyahu's remarks follow a report published last month by The Atlantic, which said that Kamel landed in Israel on September 26, 2023, and warned senior Israeli officials of an impending attack.
At the time, the Prime Minister's Office rejected the report, describing it as "a false and recycled claim intended to mislead the public."
The Wall Street Journal subsequently reported that Kamel had also spoken with Netanyahu by telephone in early October 2023 to warn him of the impending attack, in what was described as Egypt's third warning on the matter.
According to the same report, an earlier, less specific warning had been conveyed as far back as June 2023. In September, United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed also reportedly alerted Israel to indications of a possible attack.
Sources cited in the reports explained that the warnings from Arab officials were based on a change in the tone of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and increasingly frequent meetings among terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip.
However, the warnings did not contain specific intelligence about the timing or scale of the planned attack.