Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travelled to Abu Dhabi on Sunday for talks with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a senior Israeli official told Reuters.
Neither Netanyahu’s office nor the UAE foreign ministry immediately commented on the reported meeting.
The visit comes amid controversy over a Haaretz report alleging that the Emirati leader warned Netanyahu about a planned major Hamas operation roughly 10 days before the October 7, 2023 attack.
According to the newspaper, the warning was not relayed to Israel’s intelligence services or military. Netanyahu has rejected the account and threatened legal action against Haaretz.
The allegations have added to pressure on Netanyahu as he faces a difficult reelection campaign. Opposition leaders accuse him of responsibility for the security failures preceding the Hamas attack.
The UAE has declined to address the newspaper’s claims directly, while saying it has maintained direct communication with Israel since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 2020.
An Emirati source previously told Reuters that security discussions with other countries take place through the relevant agencies rather than between national leaders.
Sunday’s reported visit follows conflicting accounts of an earlier meeting. In May, Netanyahu’s office said he had made a secret trip to the UAE and met its president, a claim the Emirati authorities denied.
A source familiar with that meeting told Reuters at the time that the two leaders had met on March 26 in Al Ain, in the emirate of Abu Dhabi near the Omani border.
The UAE has deepened its ties with Israel and the United States since coming under attack during the Iran war. Its relationship with Israel, established under the US-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020, provides an additional channel to Washington and a means of influencing regional affairs.
