“The visit led to a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates,” Netanyahu’s office said last week.
The visit of the Israeli prime minister or high-ranking Israeli military officials was immediately denied by the Emirates Foreign Ministry, The Jerusalem Post wrote. But it chose a very evasive formulation: “Any claims mentioning undisclosed visits or arrangements are unfounded until they are announced by the relevant official authorities in the United Arab Emirates.”
The visit was then again confirmed by the former spokesman of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office, Ziv Agmon, who resigned from his post in March. He wrote on his Facebook profile that he attended the meetings: “I can say that the prime minister was received in Abu Dhabi with royal honors.”
On Sunday, Israeli television channel 12 stated the reason for the unexpected publication of Netanyahu’s visit to the Emirates, which caused diplomatic tension between the two countries. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is expected to go there and his visit will be public, while Netanyahu’s would remain in secrecy mode. This could give the impression that Bennett is welcome in the Emirates, while Netanyahu is not, The Jerusalem Post wrote.
Channel 12 reported that the Emirates wanted Netanyahu’s visit to remain private. The Israeli military censor preferred that the visit not be reported, but the prime minister’s office approved the publication of the visit, even though it is a violation of diplomatic agreements.
But Israel is awaiting elections and Netanyahu wants to defend the prime minister’s seat.
Secret service chiefs were also in the Emirates
Last week on Wednesday, news also appeared that Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Bet’s David Zini repeatedly visited the Emirates during combat operations. This adds to the picture of ever closer relations between the Emirates and Israel, which sent a battery of the Iron Dome air defense system to the country.
Iran is increasingly talking about the fact that the Emirates have become a second Israel. It is believed that it was the Emirates that launched an airstrike on the refinery on the Iranian island of Lavan at the beginning of April, as retaliation for Iran’s attacks on oil and civil infrastructure in the Emirates. The raid led to further Iranian attacks on the Emirates and Kuwait. US President Donald Trump did not want a similar escalation of attacks on oil facilities.
