Netanyahu Visits Abu Dhabi for Talks With UAE President Mohamed

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Abu Dhabi on Sunday and met with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, an Israeli official told Reuters.

The visit was not announced beforehand, and neither Netanyahu’s office nor the UAE government immediately gave details about the meeting.

The visit comes as Israel-UAE relations continue following the establishment of diplomatic ties in 2020.

It also comes at a time of continuing Middle East tensions and renewed attention on reported contacts between Netanyahu and Sheikh Mohammed before the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

• Netanyahu visits Abu Dhabi for talks with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed
• Israel-UAE ties remain in focus amid Middle East tensions and regional conflicts
• Unannounced Netanyahu visit highlights continued Israel-UAE diplomatic contacts

Netanyahu Meets UAE President in Unannounced Visit

The Israeli official confirmed that Netanyahu travelled to Abu Dhabi and met Sheikh Mohammed but did not disclose what was discussed. The lack of an immediate statement from either government left the purpose of the meeting unclear.

The visit follows a report by Israeli newspaper Haaretz earlier this month claiming that Sheikh Mohammed had warned Netanyahu about a possible major Hamas operation around a week and a half before the October 7 attack. The report said the warning was not passed to Israeli intelligence agencies or the military.

Netanyahu has rejected the report and threatened legal action against Haaretz. The claims have received attention because his government has faced criticism over the October 7 attack and the security failures surrounding it. Opposition figures have also blamed Netanyahu and his government for failing to prevent the attack, though those accusations remain disputed.

The UAE has not commented on the Haaretz report. Abu Dhabi has previously said that Israel and the UAE maintain direct channels of communication. A UAE source told Reuters previously that security issues involving other countries are generally handled through relevant government bodies rather than necessarily by national leaders themselves.

UAE-Israel Ties Remain Under Focus

The latest reported meeting also follows questions over an earlier visit by Netanyahu to the UAE. In May, Netanyahu’s office said he had secretly travelled to the country and met Sheikh Mohammed during the Iran conflict. The UAE foreign ministry later denied that such a meeting had taken place.

A source familiar with the earlier episode subsequently told Reuters that Netanyahu and Sheikh Mohammed had met in Al-Ain on March 26. Al-Ain is located in the Abu Dhabi emirate, close to the border with Oman.

Israel and the UAE established diplomatic relations in 2020 under the US-brokered Abraham Accords. The agreement opened the way for expanded cooperation between the two countries in areas including trade, investment, technology and security.

Relations have continued despite disagreements over regional conflicts, particularly the Israel-Hamas war. The two governments have maintained communication channels even as their public positions on regional developments have sometimes differed.

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Netanyahu’s latest reported visit adds another meeting between the Israeli and Emirati leaders to a relationship that has continued to develop since the Abraham Accords. However, with neither side immediately providing details about Sunday’s meeting, the issues discussed and whether any agreements were reached remain unclear.