Netanyahu’s Office Says He Secretly Visited UAE, UAE Denies Meeting Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he “secretly visited” the United Arab Emirates during the US-Israeli war on Iran and met UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, framing the encounter as a “historic breakthrough” in relations.

“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”

Al Jazeera

The UAE Foreign Ministry denied the claim, saying “Any claims regarding unannounced visits or undisclosed arrangements are entirely unfounded unless officially announced by the relevant authorities in the UAE,” and insisting the countries’ ties are “public and conducted within the framework of the well-known and officially declared Abraham Accords.”

Al Jazeera

The dispute unfolded after Netanyahu’s office posted that the meeting occurred during “Operation 'Lion's Roar',” while multiple outlets tied the episode to the broader Iran conflict and the expanding Israel-UAE security relationship.

Reuters was cited in the coverage as placing the meeting in Al Ain, an oasis city near the border with Oman, and lasting several hours, while other reporting described the trip as occurring in late March.

As the UAE rejected Netanyahu’s account, the BBC reported that Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Netanyahu had “publicly revealed what Iran's security services long ago” and added that collusion with Israel was “unforgivable.”

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told audiences in Tel Aviv that Israel sent Iron Dome air defence batteries and personnel to the UAE to help counter potential Iranian attacks, describing the deployment as the result of an “extraordinary relationship between the UAE and Israel” based on the Abraham Accords.

Al-Jazeera Net

The BBC also reported that on 10 May the UAE’s Ministry of Defence said air defence systems engaged two drones launched from Iran and that the country engaged a total of 551 ballistic missiles, 29 cruise missiles, and 2,265 since the war broke out in late February.

In parallel, the Guardian reported that Reuters said Netanyahu and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan met for several hours in Al Ain on 26 March, while the UAE foreign ministry denied the reports as “baseless.”

The coverage linked the Israel-UAE security deepening to the wider regional context, including the fact that the Abraham Accords were condemned by Palestinian leaders as a “stab in the back” and that Israel has launched a “genocidal war on the Gaza Strip,” according to Al Jazeera.

The Guardian added that both Israel and the UAE are “under intense scrutiny for their alleged involvement in war crimes,” noting that Israel has been accused of genocide in Gaza and that arrest warrants have been issued by the international criminal court for Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant.

In the same reporting stream, the Guardian said the UAE is widely believed to be arming and funding the Rapid Support Forces, which have been accused of mass atrocities in Sudan, while the UAE government denied the allegations.

Against that backdrop, the UAE’s denial of Netanyahu’s “secret visit” and its insistence that relations are “public” underscored how the episode is being framed as part of the security alignment during the Iran war, even as the underlying political stakes remain tied to Gaza and international legal scrutiny.