- Netanyahu secretly visited Abu Dhabi, met UAE President.
- Meeting occurred amid alleged pre-October 7 Hamas warning.
- Netanyahu denies warning, faces October 7 security scrutiny.
- Previous Netanyahu-UAE high-level meetings were also disputed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly visited Abu Dhabi on Sunday and met UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a senior Israeli official told Reuters. The meeting comes amid a recent report alleging that the UAE leader had warned Netanyahu about a planned Hamas operation before the October 7, 2023 attack.
There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office or the UAE Foreign Ministry on the reported visit, the report noted.
The meeting comes after Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported earlier this month that Sheikh Mohamed had warned Netanyahu around a week and a half before October 7 that Hamas was preparing a major operation against Israel. According to the report, the warning was not relayed to Israeli intelligence agencies or the military.
Netanyahu has denied the Haaretz report and threatened legal action against the newspaper.
Netanyahu Faces Questions Over October 7 Security Failures
The reported visit comes as Netanyahu faces a difficult reelection campaign, with opposition leaders accusing him of responsibility for security failures that preceded Hamas’ October 7 attack.
The UAE has not commented on the Haaretz report. However, Abu Dhabi has previously said that its relationship with Israel includes “open and direct lines of communication” following the establishment of diplomatic ties in 2020.
A UAE source earlier told Reuters that Abu Dhabi discusses security issues with other countries through the “relevant entities”, rather than directly between national leaders.
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Earlier ‘Secret Visit’ Was Also Disputed
Sunday’s reported meeting is not the first time Netanyahu’s meetings with Sheikh Mohamed have been described as secret.
Earlier this year, the UAE denied that Sheikh Mohamed had met Netanyahu after the Israeli prime minister’s office said in May that Netanyahu had “secretly visited” the Gulf country and met its president.
A source familiar with that meeting subsequently told Reuters that Netanyahu and Sheikh Mohamed had met in Al-Ain on March 26. Al-Ain is an oasis city in Abu Dhabi near the country’s border with Oman.
The conflicting accounts had highlighted the sensitivity surrounding high-level contacts between the two countries.
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UAE-Israel Ties Deepened After Iran War
The UAE and Israel established diplomatic relations in 2020 under the Abraham Accords. Since coming under attack during the Iran war, the UAE has strengthened its ties with both Washington and Israel.
The relationship with Israel has given the UAE an additional channel for regional influence as well as a direct link to Washington.
The latest reported Netanyahu-Sheikh Mohamed meeting comes against that broader backdrop, while the claims surrounding the October 7 warning have added a new dimension to scrutiny of the Israeli prime minister’s handling of security concerns before the Hamas attack.
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