Netanyahu confirms Egyptian spy chief landed in Israel before October 7

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged that Abbas Kamel, then head of Egyptian intelligence, flew to Israel shortly before the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, while insisting that the two men did not meet. The Times of Israel reported that Netanyahu said he was at a memorial ceremony for fallen soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at the time, and that Kamel neither met nor spoke with him.

The remarks came on Tuesday in an interview with Channel 14, which Haaretz described as a pro-government channel. Haaretz wrote that the admission followed several earlier denials, and that Netanyahu said he did not know which Israeli official had received the Egyptian visitor. According to The Times of Israel, Netanyahu said Kamel spent roughly 50 minutes on the ground and added that he wanted to find out whom he had seen.

Who Abbas Kamel is and why the visit matters

Kamel led Egypt's intelligence service, the body that has long acted as a channel between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist group that rules Gaza. Haaretz refers to him as Egypt's former intelligence chief. Reports of his trip to Israel before the attack surfaced soon after October 7. Ynet said Netanyahu's comments effectively confirmed a report in The Atlantic, as well as its own disclosure, published together with the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth shortly after the massacre.

The significance lies in what Kamel is said to have carried. The Times of Israel wrote that he reportedly told Israeli officials Hamas was preparing a major attack unless Israel accepted an arrangement that included a prisoner release and economic concessions. When word of that warning first emerged, Netanyahu's office issued a statement saying, in part, "No early message came from Egypt," according to the same outlet.

The claim that spy chiefs do not meet leaders

In the interview Netanyahu also argued that heads of intelligence agencies do not hold meetings with heads of state, saying such a thing had never happened to him. Journalists quickly pointed to the record. Barak Ravid of Axios posted Netanyahu's own social media message from 30.5.2021, in which the prime minister described a meeting with Kamel, identified as head of Egypt's General Intelligence, to discuss strengthening cooperation between the two countries. Ravid said the interview remarks were made on the Channel 14 programme The Patriots.

Ynet likewise noted that Netanyahu had been recorded hosting Kamel in his office two years before the attack. In a separate post, Ravid wrote that on January 27, 2023, Netanyahu met another foreign intelligence chief, CIA Director Bill Burns, and that the two met at least four more times over the following two years.

How the reports differ

The outlets agree that Netanyahu confirmed the visit and denied meeting Kamel. They differ in emphasis and in small details. Haaretz and Ynet frame the remarks as an admission after earlier denials, while The Times of Israel presents them as a confirmation of existing reports. Commentator Amit Segal, writing on Telegram, called Kamel Egypt's intelligence minister rather than its intelligence chief, and summarised Netanyahu as demanding to know whom Kamel did meet.

The October 7 context

The Hamas attack of October 7, 2023 is the backdrop to a continuing argument in Israel over who knew what before it happened. Haaretz filed its account under election coverage, indicating that the question of prior warnings remains part of the political debate.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports identifies which Israeli official or officials met Kamel during his visit, and Netanyahu said he did not know. The reports do not give the exact date of the visit beyond placing it days before the attack, nor do they quote any Egyptian response. The content of Kamel's reported warning is attributed by The Times of Israel to earlier reporting rather than to an official record, and none of the outlets says whether any message from the visit reached the prime minister through other channels.