Washington \u2014 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently made a secret visit to the United Arab Emirates, where he met with Mohammed bin Zayed, the country’s president, sources told CBS News.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu’s office acknowledged the trip, saying in a statement Wednesday that it “resulted in a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.” Sources told CBS News that the meeting occurred in late March.<\/p>\n
But hours later, the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied the meeting took place, saying in a statement<\/a> that the UAE’s “relations with Israel are public and conducted within the framework of the well-known and officially declared Abraham Accords, and are not based on non-transparent or unofficial arrangements.”<\/p>\n “Accordingly, any claims regarding unannounced visits or undisclosed arrangements are entirely unfounded unless officially announced by the relevant authorities in the UAE,” the statement said.<\/p>\n Any visit from Israeli officials could potentially create some domestic civil unrest for the Emiratis.\u00a0<\/p>\n The UAE was the first country to sign on to the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020, which normalized diplomatic relations between Israel and four Arab nations.<\/p>\n The Wall Street Journal reported<\/a> earlier this week that the UAE carried out military strikes on Iran last month. The UAE has not acknowledged that action publicly.<\/p>\n Israel has sent Iron Dome air-defense batteries and personnel to the UAE, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said<\/a> Tuesday. Sources confirmed the UAE received the defense systems.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to a U.S. official, Netanyahu traveled to the UAE in 2018 to meet with MBZ, as he is often called.\u00a0<\/p>\n Michal Ben-Gal and Sohel Uddin contributed to this report.<\/p>\n \n Go deeper with The Free Press\n <\/p>\n