UAE denies Netanyahu visited in ‘secret’ during US-Israel war on Iran

The United Arab Emirates has denied that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made what his office described as a “secret visit” to the Gulf country during the US-Israel war on Iran.

In a statement carried on Wednesday night by the state news agency, WAM, the UAE said “its relations with Israel are public and were established within the framework of the well-known and publicly declared Abraham Accords. These relations are not based on secrecy or clandestine arrangements”.

“Therefore, any claims regarding undisclosed visits or arrangements are baseless unless issued by the relevant official authorities in the UAE,” the report said.

The reaction came hours after Netanyahu’s office claimed in a social media statement on Wednesday that Netanyahu held a meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during a “secret visit” in the midst of the bombing campaign against Iran, without disclosing the exact date.

The office hailed it as a “historic breakthrough” in the ties between the two countries.

The development came 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 WAM’s report earlier this month, 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 2020 signing of the so-called Abraham Accords, a US-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.