Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made an unannounced visit to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, meeting UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, according to a senior Israeli official who spoke to Reuters and reports in Israeli media. The UAE Foreign Ministry and Netanyahu’s office did not immediately issue public statements. The trip was first flagged on the Middle East 24 feed on X.

Israeli media reported that Netanyahu left Ben-Gurion Airport shortly after noon on a private executive jet and landed in Abu Dhabi at about 3:10 p.m. local time. The aircraft reportedly departed for Israel around 7:10 p.m., putting the prime minister on the ground for about four hours.

Channel 12 was the first Israeli outlet to report the trip. Other Israeli outlets and an Israeli diplomatic source cited by The Jerusalem Post supported the details. Nothing has been released about the agenda, though the talks are likely to have touched on regional security and the increasingly sensitive Israel–UAE relationship.

Visit follows warning controversy

The meeting comes at a delicate moment. Earlier this month, Haaretz reported that the Emirati president warned Netanyahu roughly 10 days before the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack that the group was preparing a major operation. The report said the warning drew on information about Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and came in a confidential conversation, with Sheikh Mohammed concerned about extensive bloodshed and regional destabilization.

Netanyahu rejects the report, saying no warning reached him before October 7. His office called the allegation part of a “sinister plot,” and he has instructed lawyers to begin defamation proceedings against Haaretz, which stands by its reporting and says it will defend it in court.

The New York Times has since reported that two people familiar with the matter said Sheikh Mohammed did privately alert Netanyahu that Hamas was considering a major attack. Five former senior Israeli officials told the paper the information was not passed to the country’s top security officials, and the Times reported Netanyahu did not mention the alleged warning at an October 1, 2023 security meeting.

The UAE Foreign Ministry says Emirati and Israeli government bodies have kept “open and direct lines of communication” since ties were established, with relevant intelligence shared through appropriate channels.

The UAE has not publicly confirmed the reported conversation.

Relationship tested by secrecy

Sunday’s visit follows an earlier dispute. In May, Netanyahu’s office said he had secretly travelled to the UAE during the war with Iran and met Sheikh Mohammed in Al Ain on March 26, calling it a “historic breakthrough.” The Emirati Foreign Ministry quickly denied the visit and rejected reports of an Israeli military delegation on Emirati soil as “entirely unfounded,” stressing that relations are public and operate within the 2020 Abraham Accords framework.

The accounts were never reconciled. A source familiar with the episode told Reuters the two men did meet in Al Ain for several hours. Former Netanyahu spokesman Ziv Agmon said he accompanied the prime minister and that Netanyahu was received “with the honor of kings.”

No details released

Neither side has said what was discussed, or whether it covered the Gaza war, Iran, intelligence-sharing, regional diplomacy or the October 7 warning allegations. The secrecy is likely to fuel debate in Israel as Netanyahu faces criticism over the security failures preceding the attack and heads into a closely watched election campaign. Opposition politicians argue that any evidence an external warning reached the prime minister should be examined by a formal investigation.

For now, the visit is confirmed only by an Israeli official and media reports. The absence of a public Emirati acknowledgment is notable given Abu Dhabi’s insistence that its ties with Israel are conducted openly and through official channels.