Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged making a clandestine journey to the United Arab Emirates over the weekend, a move reported by Israeli media as an effort to counter assertions that he had previously been alerted to an impending Hamas assault.
The trip comes in the wake of claims suggesting that the UAE leadership was informed of the looming threat before the October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel. According to reports, Netanyahu sought to have his UAE counterpart publicly deny having issued such a warning.
While Netanyahu has confirmed the existence of the secret visit, he has firmly denied that he requested his Emirati counterpart to make any public statements regarding intelligence about the impending attack. France 24’s Douglas Herbert provides further analysis on the developing story.
If he didn’t ask them to deny it, why the covert meeting at all? Something doesn’t add up here.
The UAE has consistently denied these claims. Asking for a public denial via a secret trip seems rather suspicious indeed.
How convenient. Does denying the accusation mean the underlying intelligence was never actually shared with Israel?
A secret visit to deny a secret warning? This political chess game is becoming harder to follow every day.