Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made an unannounced visit to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday and met with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, according to a senior Israeli official who spoke to Reuters. Neither Netanyahu’s office nor the UAE Foreign Ministry immediately commented on the meeting.
Netanyahu reportedly travelled to Abu Dhabi on a private aircraft, spent most of the day there and returned to Israel the same day. The Associated Press reported that the meeting lasted about an hour.
The meeting comes amid renewed attention to a report by Israeli newspaper Haaretz, which alleged that Sheikh Mohamed had warned Netanyahu around a week and a half before the October 7, 2023 attack that Hamas was preparing a major operation. According to the report, the warning was not passed to Israeli intelligence agencies or the military. Netanyahu has denied the report and threatened legal action against the newspaper.
According to AP, sources familiar with the meeting said Netanyahu asked Sheikh Mohamed to deny the reported warning. The details were provided by people speaking anonymously, while the UAE Foreign Ministry declined to comment directly on reports about the meeting.
The UAE and Israel established diplomatic relations under the Abraham Accords in 2020, and the two countries have maintained communication on regional and security issues.
