Netanyahu secretly visits UAE during 'Assad roar' in qualitative diplomatic development

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office officially announced a secret visit to the United Arab Emirates in the midst of the “roar of Assad” military operation, where he met with Emirati President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in talks that Israel described as historic. According to the Israeli statement, this secret visit marked an important turning point in the trajectory of Israeli-UAE relations, reflecting the depth of strategic coordination between The announcement of this visit coincided with intelligence reports revealing two separate secret visits by Israeli Mossad chief David Barnea to the UAE to discuss security coordination files. The revelation of the secret visit raised several central questions in Israeli circles, related to how Netanyahu was able to fly to the UAE in light of the near-total closure of airspace without the flight being detected or disclosed in time. Israeli sources wondered about the motives behind Netanyahu's visit to a region located in this geographical proximity to Iran, and whether the visit included agreements on the transfer of advanced Israeli air defense systems to the UAE. It is noteworthy that the UAE president has publicly received on previous occasions a number of senior Israeli officials, especially opposition leaders such as Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, in addition to a number of Israeli ministers. To date, no official meeting with Netanyahu has been announced. However, Israeli intelligence estimates indicate that the channels of communication and meetings between the Israeli and Emirati leaderships have not been interrupted over the past years, reflecting the continuity of strategic coordination between the two countries despite media secrecy about the nature of these relations.