UAE confirms Israel PM Netanyahu’s visit to Abu Dhabi

The visit took place as the Israeli prime minister battles domestic turmoil ahead of October’s Knesset elections.

Al Jazeera2026-09-28 19:42查看原文 ↗

The visit took place as the Israeli prime minister battles domestic turmoil ahead of October’s Knesset elections.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in the UAE capital on Sunday [File: AFP]

The United Arab Emirates has confirmed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during a visit to the country over the weekend.

The confirmation late on Monday came a day after the Israeli leader made the secret trip to the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi. The visit came a month before Israeli elections and amid controversy over reports alleging that Bin Zayed, known as MBZ, had warned Netanyahu that a major Hamas operation was likely just ahead of the attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

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“During the meeting, the two sides discussed bilateral relations between the UAE and Israel and ways to strengthen and develop them,” the official Emirates News Agency, WAM, reported on Monday. The meeting was earlier reported in the Israeli press.

Palestinian fighters killed at least 1,195 people in southern Israel during the attack and took around 250 captive. Israel’s response developed into a genocidal war on Gaza, in which at least 73,669 Palestinians have been killed.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on September 9 that the UAE president spoke to Netanyahu on the phone about 10 days before the attack, warning him of a threat made by then-Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar that he was preparing a “huge surprise”.

Bin Zayed had previously alerted Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency, the Haaretz report said.

Netanyahu’s office has denied that the prime minister received information ahead of the attacks.

Netanyahu said the following day that he would sue Haaretz, calling its report “fabricated” and “politically motivated”.

Relations between Israel and the UAE have warmed since the UAE signed the US-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020, which normalised ties between Israel and a number of Arab states.

United States Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said in May that Israel had deployed Iron Dome air defence batteries and personnel to the UAE to help defend against potential Iranian attacks.

Israel’s Channel 12 first reported on Netanyahu’s trip to the UAE over the weekend. Shin Bet said on Monday that it had filed a complaint with Israel’s military censor, saying the report endangered the prime minister and exposed the intelligence agency’s operational methods, The Associated Press news agency reported.

The allegation that the prime minister ignored a warning regarding the Hamas attack comes as Netanyahu is trying to secure his position in the upcoming Knesset elections, scheduled for October.

He has been trailing in the polls, facing a fierce challenge from former military chief Gadi Eisenkot.

此次访问正值以色列总理在10月份议会选举前努力应对国内动荡之际。

以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡周日在阿联酋首都会见了阿联酋总统谢赫·穆罕默德·本·扎耶德·阿勒纳哈扬。[图片：法新社]

阿拉伯联合酋长国证实，以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡周末访问该国期间会见了阿联酋总统谢赫·穆罕默德·本·扎耶德·阿勒纳哈扬。

周一晚些时候，以色列领导人秘密访问阿联酋首都阿布扎比一天后，官方证实了这一消息。此次访问距离以色列大选仅剩一个月，此前有报道称，本·扎耶德（MBZ）曾警告内塔尼亚胡，哈马斯很可能在2023年10月7日以色列南部遭受袭击前夕发动大规模军事行动，引发争议。

列表 1/3：伊朗吹捧霍尔木兹海峡袭击事件，尽管局势紧张，石油流量仍在增加

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名单3/3：3名美国人和6名乌克兰人在被印度监禁6个月后获释

据阿联酋官方通讯社WAM周一报道，“会晤期间，双方讨论了阿联酋与以色列的双边关系以及如何加强和发展这些关系。” 此前，以色列媒体也报道了此次会晤。

在这次袭击中，巴勒斯坦武装分子在以色列南部至少杀害了1195人，并俘虏了约250人。以色列的回应演变成对加沙的种族灭绝战争，造成至少73669名巴勒斯坦人丧生。

以色列《国土报》9月9日报道，阿联酋总统在袭击发生前约10天与内塔尼亚胡通了电话，警告他当时的哈马斯领导人叶海亚·辛瓦尔威胁说，他正在准备一个“巨大的惊喜”。

据《国土报》报道，本·扎耶德此前曾向以色列辛贝特情报机构发出警报。