DOMINANT ANGLE
Stockholm is gauging how revelations about pre-October 7 warnings are weakening Netanyahu a month ahead of a tight legislative election.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
Netanyahu did not brief Israeli security officials after the call from Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed on September 23, 2023, according to Haaretz.
- 02
Netanyahu secretly traveled to Abu Dhabi on Sunday, September 27, and met with bin Zayed for about an hour, according to AP and Channel 12 Keshet.
- 03
The Wall Street Journal reports three Egyptian warnings in the fall of 2023, including a personal call from intelligence chief Abbas Kamel to Netanyahu.
ANALYSIS
Stockholm, September 29, 2026. The Swedish press is reporting information from Israel: Benyamin Netanyahu allegedly failed to inform the country's security officials after a call from Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed, received on September 23, 2023, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz. Svenska Dagbladet and Aftonbladet, citing the AP agency and Channel 12 (Keshet 12), report that Netanyahu then secretly traveled to Abu Dhabi this Sunday, September 27, where he met with bin Zayed for about an hour.
According to a cited source, the conversation precisely concerned the publication by Haaretz: Netanyahu allegedly asked bin Zayed to deny the information about this warning, a request that his own office describes as an "absolute lie". In parallel, the Wall Street Journal reports that Egypt alerted Israel no less than three times in the fall of 2023 about an imminent attack from Gaza; during the last warning, Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel allegedly called Netanyahu personally.
For the Swedish press, these revelations come at the worst possible time for the prime minister. One month before a legislative election set for October 27 - the first since the Hamas attack and the subsequent wars in Gaza, Lebanon, and against Iran - they are deemed embarrassing for the Likud leader, already criticized for his handling of the war in Gaza. The cited polls describe an election that promises to be very close, with a right-wing government under pressure from the opposition.
The articles also recall a recurring criticism addressed to Netanyahu: that of having, according to his detractors, sought to escalate conflicts and polarize the debate to present himself as the defender of Israel. The reminder of the figures from October 7, 2023 - over 1,100 deaths in Israel, mostly unarmed civilians, and nearly 250 hostages, including children - anchors the political stakes in the memory of the attack itself.
Neither of the two Swedish articles mentions an official reaction from Abu Dhabi or a comment from the Swedish government on the matter; the coverage, identical in both titles, focuses on the Israeli electoral calendar rather than the Israeli-Emirati diplomatic relationship or the substance of the investigation into the intelligence failure.
