Netanyahu visited UAE in ‘secret’ during US-Israel war on Iran, office says

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made what his office has described as a “secret visit” to the United Arab Emirates for a meeting with President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during the US-Israel war on Iran.

In a statement published on social media on Wednesday, Netanyahu’s office called the trip a “historic breakthrough” in relations between Israel and the UAE, without disclosing the exact date.

There was no immediate confirmation from the UAE.

The announcement comes as cooperation between Israel and the Gulf state appears to be expanding, particularly on security issues linked to Iran.

United States Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said this week that Israel had deployed Iron Dome air defence batteries and personnel to the UAE to help counter potential Iranian attacks.

Speaking at an event in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Huckabee praised the UAE as an example of growing relations between Israel and Gulf Arab states.

According to the UAE’s state news agency, WAM, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed received calls from several regional leaders after Iranian attacks on the country on May 5, including from Netanyahu, who expressed solidarity with the UAE and support for measures taken to protect its security and stability.

The UAE and other Arab countries came under Iranian missile and drone attacks after the US and Israel began bombing Iran in late February. A fragile ceasefire agreed by Iran and the US has been in place since April 8.

Relations between Israel and the UAE have grown gradually since the signing of the so-called Abraham Accords in 2020, a United States-brokered agreement that normalised ties between Israel and several Arab states.

The deal, which was condemned by Palestinian leaders as a “stab in the back”, was formally signed in Washington, DC, on September 15, 2020, by UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Netanyahu.

At the time, the agreement was presented as requiring Israel to suspend plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, including the Jordan Valley.

Since then, Israel has launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, as well as nearly daily deadly raids and attacks in the occupied West Bank and Lebanon.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, has been evading an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court over war crimes charges in Gaza since November 2024.