Agencies | Abu-Dhabi:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly travelled to Abu Dhabi on Sunday and met United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a senior Israeli official confirmed to Reuters, amid heightened regional tensions and renewed controversy over alleged warnings issued before the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.
The unannounced meeting, which lasted about an hour, was also reported by other news organisations citing people briefed on the visit. Netanyahu’s office and the UAE Foreign Ministry did not immediately comment on the reported meeting.
According to sources familiar with the visit, the war involving Iran was a major subject of discussion as Israel and the UAE have maintained close security contacts amid the ongoing regional conflict.
The visit also comes against the backdrop of a political controversy in Israel over reports that Sheikh Mohammed had warned Netanyahu shortly before the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack that the group was preparing a major operation.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported earlier this month that the UAE president had issued such a warning around a week and a half before the attack, but that the information was not passed to Israeli intelligence agencies or the military. Netanyahu has rejected the report and threatened legal action against the newspaper.
A person with first-hand knowledge of Sunday’s meeting told the Associated Press that Netanyahu asked Sheikh Mohammed to deny the reported warning. The UAE, however, has not directly confirmed or denied the substance of the alleged conversation.
The UAE Foreign Ministry has previously said that Abu Dhabi and Israel maintain “open and direct lines of communication” and that relevant intelligence is communicated between the appropriate authorities.
The controversy has become a significant political issue in Israel, with Netanyahu’s opponents questioning the government’s handling of intelligence and security warnings before the October 7 attack. Netanyahu’s office has repeatedly denied that he received a warning from Sheikh Mohammed and has described the allegations as false.
The latest meeting also follows an earlier dispute over an alleged secret Netanyahu visit to the UAE during the Iran war. In May, Netanyahu’s office said he had travelled to the country and met Sheikh Mohammed, but the UAE Foreign Ministry denied the claim at the time. Reuters later reported that a source familiar with the matter said the two leaders had met in Al Ain on March 26.
Israel and the UAE established diplomatic relations under the 2020 Abraham Accords. Their security relationship has since expanded, while the ongoing Iran conflict has further heightened the importance of regional security coordination.
Netanyahu has not publicly acknowledged an official visit to the UAE, making Sunday’s reported meeting particularly notable amid the continuing diplomatic and political tensions surrounding the region.
