The United Arab Emirates' Foreign Ministry has dismissed as "baseless" reports of a previous secret visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the United Arab Emirates.
The Israeli prime minister's office revealed on Wednesday that Netanyahu visited the United Arab Emirates and met with its president during the war against Iran. According to the statement, Netanyahu's previously secret meeting with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan led to "historic progress" in relations between the two countries.
A source familiar with the matter said the two leaders met in Al Ain, an oasis near the border with Oman, on March 26. Their meeting lasted several hours, he added. The UAE is one of the few Arab countries to maintain diplomatic relations with Israel, which were normalized in 2020 with the Abraham Accords, a diplomatic achievement of Donald Trump's first term in the White House.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier today that Mossad chief David Barnea visited the Emirates at least twice during the war to coordinate the actions of both sides.
Israel and the United Arab Emirates are said to have coordinated an attack on a major Iranian petrochemical facility.
It is one of the few Arab countries that maintains diplomatic relations with Israel, which were normalized in 2020 with the Abraham Accords, a diplomatic achievement of Donald Trump's first term.
On Tuesday, the US ambassador to Israel revealed that the Jewish state had sent Iron Dome air defense systems and personnel to operate them in the United Arab Emirates. The statement from Netanyahu's office did not confirm this information. The Emirates came under Iranian fire almost daily during the war that erupted on February 28 with a joint US-Israeli attack on Iran.
After the ceasefire, Abu Dhabi reported several times that it had been attacked by missiles and drones originating from Iran.
