September 28: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made an unannounced visit to Abu Dhabi on Sunday to meet United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a senior Israeli official told Reuters. The trip comes as Netanyahu disputes a damaging newspaper report about a warning he allegedly received before the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, and as he heads into a difficult re-election campaign.
Key highlights
- The visit: Netanyahu met Sheikh Mohamed in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, September 27.
- Low profile: Free Press Journal reported it was a day trip of about four hours, much of it spent in a one-on-one meeting.
- No statements: Neither Netanyahu’s office nor the UAE foreign ministry commented immediately, Reuters said.
- The backdrop: A Haaretz report says the UAE leader warned Netanyahu about a Hamas plan before October 7. Netanyahu denies it.
A quiet day trip
According to Free Press Journal, Netanyahu flew out of Ben-Gurion Airport around midday and returned the same evening, spending much of the visit in a one-on-one discussion with Sheikh Mohamed. No agenda was published, and Reuters said there was no immediate comment from either government.
It is not the first time contacts between the two leaders have been kept out of public view. Reuters recalled that earlier this year the UAE denied that Sheikh Mohamed had met Netanyahu, after the Israeli prime minister’s office said in May that he had “secretly visited” the Gulf country. A source familiar with that meeting told Reuters at the time that the two met in Al-Ain, an oasis city near the UAE’s border with Oman, on March 26.
The October 7 warning row
The visit follows a report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz claiming that Sheikh Mohamed warned Netanyahu about a week and a half before October 7, 2023 that Hamas was planning a major operation against Israel. Free Press Journal, citing the report, said the warning was given in a phone call of about 45 minutes in late September 2023, based on Emirati intelligence.
Netanyahu has rejected the claim. His office said a check of call logs found “no evidence of such a conversation”, and Netanyahu called the report a “malicious fabrication” and threatened legal action against Haaretz, FPJ reported. A UAE source previously told Reuters that the Emirates discusses security matters with other countries through the “relevant entities”, and not “at the level of national leaders”.
Why the trip matters
The UAE and Israel established diplomatic relations under the 2020 Abraham Accords, and Reuters noted that the UAE has kept open and direct lines of communication with Israel since then. It also said the UAE has strengthened its ties with the United States and Israel following Iranian attacks, seeing the relationship as a source of regional influence and access to Washington.
For Netanyahu, the timing is sensitive. He faces a tough re-election campaign in which opposition leaders blame him for the security failures that preceded the 2023 attack. A face-to-face meeting with the leader at the centre of the Haaretz report may be read in Israel as a sign that ties with Abu Dhabi remain intact despite the controversy.
The trip also comes days after Qatar’s prime minister called Netanyahu the “biggest obstacle” to the Gaza peace plan (our report), and while US-Iran talks over reopening the Strait of Hormuz remain stalled (background).
Sources
- The Business Standard (Reuters): Israel’s Netanyahu visited Abu Dhabi on Sunday, Israeli official says
- Free Press Journal: Netanyahu Makes Secret Abu Dhabi Trip, Meets UAE President Amid October 7 Warning Controversy
The International Desk covers world and Asian affairs, diplomacy and conflict, with a focus on what they mean for India. Stories are checked against at least two credible sources before publication.
