Netanyahu’s Secret UAE Meeting Amid Censorship Dispute

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly met UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, the two governments confirmed on Monday. Both sides described the talks as focused on bilateral relations and regional challenges. It was the first time the UAE had officially acknowledged a meeting between the leaders. The visit followed a report alleging that Sheikh Mohamed had warned Netanyahu of an imminent Hamas threat before the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, and that Netanyahu failed to relay the warning to security services. Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu traveled to ask the UAE president to deny making the warning. Netanyahu’s office denied that he made such a request and had also denied the original allegation. Before the trip was officially confirmed, Israel’s domestic security service, Shin Bet, complained to the Chief Military Censor about Channel 12’s report. Netanyahu’s office said the broadcaster had violated censorship rules by reporting the visit while the prime minister’s plane was outside Israeli airspace. The office argued that publication endangered Netanyahu, his wife and the delegation, which included the head of Mossad and other senior security officials. The meeting took place amid strained relations over Israel’s war in Gaza, which the article says has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, many of them civilians. The UAE and Israel established diplomatic relations under the 2020 Abraham Accords, and the UAE condemned Hamas’s October 7 attack and hostage-taking. However, it has also denounced what it calls ongoing Israeli violations in Gaza. Despite those tensions, Israel reportedly sent Iron Dome air-defense systems and personnel to the UAE during the war against Iran, as the Gulf state faced retaliatory attacks from Tehran.

France 24 reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a secret trip to the United Arab Emirates and held an hourlong meeting with the UAE’s president on Sunday. The meeting was described by two people briefed on the trip; the article does not identify them or name the Emirati president. Israel’s Channel 12 television station first reported the visit. According to one of the people briefed, the talks focused on a report published earlier in the month by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. That report said the Emirati leader had warned Netanyahu shortly before October 7, 2023, of a looming attack by Hamas. The France 24 item presents this as a reported claim and does not independently establish whether such a warning was given or provide the leaders’ responses. The article is a short introduction to a video report by France 24 correspondent Noga Tarnopolsky, reporting from Jerusalem. It provides no further details about the discussion, the circumstances of the trip, or the alleged warning. Its central news point is the reported meeting and its connection to the Haaretz account about prior notice of the October 7 attack.

Israel’s domestic security service, the Shin Bet, filed a complaint against Channel 12 after the television station reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had made a previously undisclosed visit to the United Arab Emirates. The complaint was announced by Netanyahu’s office, which also oversees the security agency. The office said the broadcaster had committed a serious censorship violation and demanded that it be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. It accused the report of endangering lives, although the article does not provide further details about the alleged risk or the basis for the censorship complaint. Israeli media outlets, including Channel 12, had reported on Sunday that Netanyahu traveled to the Gulf country to meet UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan. The Israeli government’s statement marked its first acknowledgement of the trip, but it did not identify the destination. Abu Dhabi subsequently confirmed the visit and the meeting between the two leaders late on Monday, providing confirmation from the UAE side. The article reports the conflicting developments—the Israeli security agency’s legal complaint over publication and the UAE’s confirmation of the high-level meeting—but offers no further information about the discussions, the timing or circumstances of the visit, or what prompted the secrecy. Its focus is on the censorship dispute and the official confirmation, rather than the substance of the leaders’ talks.

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, September 28, 2026, to discuss relations between the two countries and regional challenges. The meeting followed Netanyahu’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. According to the UAE state news agency Wam, the leaders discussed bilateral relations and ways to strengthen and develop them. Netanyahu’s office said the visit focused on strengthening ties and addressing regional challenges. Netanyahu was accompanied by his wife. The meeting took place against the backdrop of the Abraham Accords, through which the UAE and Israel normalised relations in September 2020. The agreement was presented as an effort to strengthen unity and promote peace in the Middle East. The article notes, however, that diplomatic relations have continued alongside UAE criticism of Israeli policy in Gaza. The UAE has repeatedly condemned Israel’s war there and pledged significant financial and humanitarian assistance to Palestinians. The article also recalls a UAE warning issued in September 2025: Israel’s annexation of the occupied West Bank would undermine the vision and spirit of the Abraham Accords and would constitute a red line for the UAE. Overall, the report describes the meeting and its stated purpose while placing it in the context of the UAE’s effort to maintain relations with Israel alongside its positions on Gaza and the occupied West Bank.