Netanyahu Makes Unannounced Trip to Abu Dhabi, Reportedly Meets Mohammed bin Zayed

Abu Dhabi: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a one-day secret visit to the UAE on Sunday and met President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, according to Israeli media including Channel 12, Kan, Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. Channel 12 reported that he flew in on a private jet in the morning and returned to Israel in the evening. Neither the Israeli PM’s office nor the UAE foreign ministry immediately commented, and details of the talks have not been disclosed.
The trip came two days after Netanyahu returned from New York, where he attended the UN General Assembly, and amid a heated pre-election climate in Israel. Earlier this month, Haaretz reported that about a week and a half before Oct 7, 2023, Sheikh Mohammed warned Netanyahu in a roughly 45-minute phone call that Hamas was planning a major operation. According to the report, the warning was not passed on to intelligence agencies or the military.
Netanyahu’s office denied the report, calling it a “malicious lie,” saying no such call or warning occurred, and threatened legal action against the paper. The UAE’s The National, citing an unnamed official source, said the UAE discusses security matters with other countries through relevant parties, not at leader level. Abu Dhabi declined to comment on the report but said “open and direct communication” has existed with Israel since ties were established in 2020. Opposition leaders blame the prime minister for pre-Oct 7 security failures and plan to make it a central election issue.
It is not Netanyahu’s first secret visit. In May, his office announced one and described it as a “historic breakthrough”; a source said that meeting took place in Al Ain on March 26. Channel 12 previously reported that the disclosure caused friction, as Abu Dhabi had not wanted it made public. Since being struck during the war with Iran, the UAE has deepened ties with the US and Israel.