Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, according to a senior Israeli official cited by Reuters.
ABU DHABI: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Abu Dhabi on Sunday and met with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a senior Israeli official told Reuters.
The visit was not announced in advance. There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office or the UAE Foreign Ministry regarding the meeting, Reuters reported.
The meeting comes amid renewed attention to a report by Israeli newspaper Haaretz concerning an alleged warning issued before Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Haaretz reported earlier this month that Sheikh Mohammed had warned Netanyahu about a week and a half before the attack that Hamas was planning a major operation. The newspaper reported that the warning was not passed to Israeli intelligence agencies or the military.
Netanyahu has denied the report and threatened legal action against Haaretz. Opposition leaders have also accused him of bearing responsibility for security failures that preceded the Oct. 7 attack. Those claims are part of an ongoing political dispute in Israel.
The UAE has declined to comment on the Haaretz report. However, it has previously said that Abu Dhabi and Israel have maintained “open and direct lines of communication” since establishing diplomatic relations in 2020. A UAE source previously told Reuters that security issues are discussed with other countries through the “relevant entities,” rather than directly at the level of national leaders.
The latest meeting also follows a separate dispute earlier this year over an alleged Netanyahu visit to the UAE. In May, Netanyahu’s office said he had secretly visited the Gulf country and met Sheikh Mohammed, but the UAE denied that the meeting had taken place. A source familiar with the matter later told Reuters that the two leaders had met in Al Ain, an oasis city in Abu Dhabi near the border with Oman, on March 26.
The UAE and Israel established diplomatic relations under the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020. Reuters reported that the UAE has strengthened its relationships with both Israel and the United States following attacks during the Iran war. The relationship with Israel also provides Abu Dhabi with a channel for regional engagement and ties to Washington.
The latest Abu Dhabi meeting was confirmed by an Israeli official, while official comments from Netanyahu’s office and the UAE Foreign Ministry were not immediately available.
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