As armed clashes between Israel and Iran continue, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly visited the Arab country United Arab Emirates (UAE) and met with the UAE president, it has been confirmed. Analysts say military and security cooperation between Israel and Arab states is tightening as tensions rise in the Middle East.
According to a compilation of major media reports on the 14th (local time) from the BBC, Bloomberg, and Al Jazeera, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office said on the 13th that Prime Minister Netanyahu visited the UAE during the war with Iran that broke out at the end of February and held talks with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The meeting took place for several hours in Al Ain, an oasis city near the Oman border. The Prime Minister's Office said the visit created a "historic breakthrough" in relations between Israel and the UAE.
However, immediately after Israel's announcement, the UAE government moved quickly to deny the prime minister's visit. In a statement released through the state news agency WAM on the night of the 13th, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "Relations between the UAE and Israel are open to the public and proceed within the officially declared framework of the Abraham Accords," adding, "They are not based on opaque or informal preparations." The move drew a clear line under the unilateral announcement from the Prime Minister's Office. It is seen as an effort to avoid provoking Iran and expanding the war into the Arab region. Earlier, David Barnea, Director General of Israel's Mossad, was also known to have secretly visited the UAE at least twice in March and April to coordinate operations.
Although the UAE has publicly denied it, military cooperation between the two countries aimed at striking Iran is, according to sources, taking place in plain sight. Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, said on the 12th that "based on the special relationship between Israel and the UAE, batteries of Israel's Iron Dome air defense system and operating personnel have been deployed to the UAE." In early April, signs also emerged that the UAE carried out direct military operations, including an attack on an Iranian refinery facility located on Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf.
Meanwhile, the temporary truce between the United States and Iran, which lasted for about a month from the 8th of last month, is on the verge of collapse. Iran on the 10th delivered a counterproposal to the United States containing conditions for ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, but U.S. President Donald Trump rejected it. Trump harshly criticized Iran's proposal as "a completely unacceptable piece of trash" and warned that "the current truce is on a massive life support system," raising fears of a renewed armed clash.