While Israel and the United States were bombing Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled on a secret lightning visit to the United Arab Emirates — around 250 kilometers from Iranian territory.
The Prime Minister’s Office confirmed the visit on Wednesday evening and described it as a “historic breakthrough” in relations between the two countries. The UAE promptly denied the report.
Netanyahu meets MBZ — Only a few confidants knew
The Prime Minister’s Office confirmed on X that Netanyahu made a secret visit to the UAE at the height of Operation Roaring Lion and met there with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed. The visit, it said, led to a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the UAE.
Prime Minister’s Office Statement:
In the midst of Operation Roaring Lion, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly visited the United Arab Emirates, where he met with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed.
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) May 13, 2026
According to Israel Hayom, only a few people in Netanyahu’s innermost circle knew about the visit, due to the high security risk of traveling so close to Iran in the middle of the war, and only for a few hours.
An Emirati insider told Israel Hayom: “Bibi came here because he wanted to show that he does not abandon his allies.”
The revelation adds a new dimension to the already known picture of Israeli-Emirati wartime cooperation. Until now, only tactical coordination at the intelligence level had been known — involving Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Bet chief David Zini, who had also traveled secretly to the UAE.
Now it appears that Netanyahu personally made the trip to Abu Dhabi.
UAE: “Our relations are not based on secrecy”
The UAE Foreign Ministry responded Wednesday evening with a denial via the state news agency WAM: “The UAE’s 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 hidden arrangements.”
Any claims about undisclosed visits or agreements, it said, were baseless unless confirmed by UAE authorities.
The contradiction between Israel’s confirmation and the Emirati denial is politically revealing. Abu Dhabi wants normalization with Israel to be seen as a transparent, public project — and rejects any suspicion that it is making secret arrangements with Jerusalem behind closed doors.
At the same time, the Israeli disclosures show how far the cooperation may actually have gone: Iron Dome batteries, joint intelligence operations, coordinated strikes on Iran — and, apparently, a prime minister who flew personally to Abu Dhabi in the middle of the war to strengthen an ally.
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