🔶 UAE confirms Netanyahu’s trip to Abu Dhabi

The United Arab Emirates confirmed that Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, met with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the United Arab Emirates, during his visit to the country.

The news was released late on Monday, the 6th of Mehr (28 September), one day after it was reported that the Israeli prime minister had carried out a secret trip to Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s capital.

Netanyahu’s visit took place one month before Israel’s elections, and in circumstances in which, previously, some media had reported that the UAE’s head of state had warned Netanyahu that “a major operation by Hamas is probably coming” before the October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel. Netanyahu’s office had denied the accuracy of that report.

According to the UAE’s official news agency, the two sides “discussed, during this meeting, relations between the UAE and Israel, and ways to strengthen and develop them.”

Israel-UAE relations have warmed since the UAE signed the Abraham Accords in 2020 with US mediation.