Representatives from ten countries — including Saudi Arabia and several other Arab states that do not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel — reportedly participated in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s secret visit to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday.
According to a report by Israel’s Channel 14, citing a senior Emirati official, representatives of Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Morocco, Kuwait, Bahrain, Libya, Oman and Egypt took part in the gathering.
The reported Saudi participation is particularly significant, coming amid years of discussions over the possibility of establishing formal diplomatic relations between Yerushalayim and Riyadh.
The Channel 14 report said the meeting was conducted in two stages. The first portion involved Netanyahu and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, together with Israeli and Emirati officials. Representatives of the other countries reportedly joined for a broader second stage.
A separate report in Israel Hayom said senior representatives from at least two Gulf countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel participated in the talks, which focused heavily on Iran, regional security coordination and the Houthi threat.
The UAE has officially confirmed that Netanyahu visited the country on Sunday and met with bin Zayed. Netanyahu’s office also confirmed the previously secret trip, saying the prime minister traveled at the invitation of the Emirati president.
“The visit focused on strengthening relations between the two countries and on regional challenges,” Netanyahu’s office said.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu was accompanied in the talks by several of Israel’s most senior security and diplomatic officials, including the head of the National Security Council, the Mossad chief, Netanyahu’s military secretary and his diplomatic adviser.
Reuters reported, citing three senior Israeli officials, that the meeting lasted approximately six hours and focused heavily on Iran.
The visit was initially kept under wraps, with Netanyahu traveling to Abu Dhabi aboard a private aircraft and remaining in the Emirates for much of Sunday. The UAE’s official WAM news agency subsequently confirmed the meeting, saying Netanyahu and bin Zayed discussed bilateral relations and ways to strengthen and develop ties between the countries.
The trip also came amid controversy over reports alleging that bin Zayed had warned Netanyahu before the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre about a potential major attack. The Associated Press reported that Netanyahu urged the Emirati leader during the visit to publicly deny those reports.
Netanyahu’s office categorically rejected that account.
“Fake news. The visit dealt solely with strengthening relations between the two countries and regional challenges,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.
Meanwhile, an Italian newspaper reported that Netanyahu also met during the visit with Saddam Haftar, the son of Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar, who controls much of eastern Libya. Netanyahu’s office has not provided details regarding that reported meeting.
The latest disclosures suggest that what was initially presented as a bilateral Netanyahu-bin Zayed meeting may have included a substantially broader regional diplomatic gathering involving countries both with and without formal relations with Israel.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
One Response
It seems that the reason Israelis are excited over the prospect of official relations with Saudi Arabia is because they want to feel accepted. This is however completely misguided, the people in countries they have diplomatic relations with like Jordan or Egypt hate Israel and hold the same views about them as those in Syria or Iraq, and that is they await the day when Israel no longer exists. So “normalization” with Saudi Arabia will not be with its people, it will mean only they can set up an embassy which means nothing in regard to acceptance. In fact the people of Saudi Arabia so hate Israel that Muhamad bin Saalman said he fears his subjects will kill him if he establishes official relations with Israel.