Netanyahu made secret trip to Abu Dhabi to seek denial of Hamas warning report
Netanyahu secretly met Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi on Sunday to seek a denial of a report that the Emirati leader had warned him of a looming Hamas attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travelled secretly to the United Arab Emirates over the weekend and met its president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on Sunday, according to two people briefed on the trip. The visit was first reported by Israel's Channel 12.
One person familiar with the matter said the talks centred on a report published earlier this month by the Israeli daily Haaretz, which said the Emirati leader had warned Netanyahu about an imminent Hamas attack shortly before the Palestinian militant group's assault on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Netanyahu asked Sheikh Mohamed to deny that account, the person said. Netanyahu's office had previously rejected the Haaretz report.
The two people who confirmed the meeting — the person with first-hand knowledge of the talks and a regional official briefed on them — spoke on condition of anonymity because the trip was not public. The UAE's Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the reports but said it maintains "open and direct lines of communication" with Israel and shares "all relevant intelligence." There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu's office.
Separately, the European Union's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said the bloc is applying for observer status in a new multinational maritime defence coalition led by Saudi Arabia to protect the kingdom's energy exports. Speaking on Monday before a meeting of EU defence and foreign affairs ministers in Brussels, Kallas said she would ask ministers to expand the bloc's own naval force in the Red Sea, known as ASPIDES, to help escort cargo vessels through the Bab el-Mandeb strait against attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels. She said the need for ships was greater than ever, with six currently deployed under ASPIDES. It is unclear what observer status in the Saudi-led coalition would mean operationally for the EU or ASPIDES.
In another development, Israel summoned Spain's chargé d'affaires over remarks by Spanish Youth Minister Sira Rego declaring public support for a Palestinian state "from the river to the sea," a slogan that implies a call for the elimination of the Israeli state. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the remarks were part of a systematic anti-Israel policy pursued by the Spanish government and its leader, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, and noted that Rego had not condemned the October 7, 2023 attacks. Rego was barred from entering Israel in September 2025.
The Dutch foreign minister, Tom Berendsen, said he "deeply regrets this unnecessary decision" after Israel announced it was expelling Dutch diplomats from Ramallah in the West Bank within a week. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Sunday that the move responded to a Dutch ban that took effect on September 22 on the import, purchase and sale of goods originating from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The Netherlands and much of the international community consider such goods illegal. Berendsen said the temporary import ban was not directed against Israel but stemmed from an obligation under international law not to contribute to an unlawful situation.