Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for war crimes, secretly flew to Abu Dhabi over the weekend for meetings with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and, according to Israeli reports, representatives of several Arab countries that do not have full diplomatic relations with Israel, discussing Iran, the Houthi threat, and air defense cooperation.
Netanyahu's office confirmed he visited the UAE at bin Zayed's invitation, saying the trip focused on "strengthening relations between the two countries and regional challenges." The UAE's official state news agency WAM also confirmed the visit, saying the two discussed "bilateral relations and ways to strengthen and develop them," without offering further detail. The UAE did not release a photograph.
Beyond the bilateral meeting, Israeli outlet Yedioth Ahronoth cited sources familiar with the matter as saying the Abu Dhabi visit included a secret meeting that brought together representatives of Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Jordan, as well as representatives of other Gulf states, some of which have no formal diplomatic ties with Israel. The Mossad chief, Roman Goffman, reportedly arranged the meeting, while bin Zayed agreed to host it. Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Jordan have not confirmed the meeting or their participation.
Netanyahu traveled with his national security council chief, the Mossad director, his military secretary, and his foreign policy adviser, a delegation that reflects the security and intelligence character of the conversations being held. The central topic, according to Israeli reporting, was Iran, the Houthi threat in the Red Sea and on Israel's southern front, and the possibility of deeper air defense cooperation between Israel and Arab Gulf states.
The meeting, if confirmed, would represent a significant step in the quiet militarization of the Abraham Accords framework. Since October 2023, Israel has been waging its genocide in Gaza, killing more than 74,000 Palestinians, and has extended its wars to Lebanon, Syria, and Iran itself. The same Arab governments whose populations have taken to the streets in their millions against the genocide are, according to Israeli reports, sitting in a room with the man prosecuting it to discuss how to align against their shared regional rival.
The question the meetings raise is whether Arab states are willing to move from behind-the-scenes security cooperation into open or operational alignment with Israel against Iran, effectively making its war their war. The answer is not yet clear, and none of the states named has confirmed even their presence. But that such meetings can reportedly take place at all, secretly, hosted by the UAE, with Israeli intelligence chiefs at the table, signals how far the architecture of Arab-Israeli normalization has advanced since 2020, even with Gaza burning.
