The Foreign Ministry said "the presence of the Zionist entity in the region carries extremely dangerous consequences" and said regional governments are expected to refrain from providing ground for it and not allow their territory to become "a corridor for actions that undermine the stability of other countries in the region." The visit came amid warming ties between Israel and the UAE following the recent war with Iran, during which Israel temporarily provided the UAE with an Iron Dome missile defense system and Israeli operators, Ynet reported.
The UAE state news agency confirmed Monday that President Mohammed bin Zayed received Netanyahu, who secretly flew to Abu Dhabi on Sunday, the first official Emirati acknowledgment of a Netanyahu visit since the countries normalized relations in 2020. Netanyahu's office said he was accompanied by the Mossad chief, the head of the National Security Council, his military secretary and his foreign policy adviser. Channel 14 reported, citing a senior Emirati source, that the meeting expanded to include representatives from 10 countries: the UAE, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the US, Morocco, Kuwait, Bahrain, Libya (Haftar), Oman and Egypt, with Iran the main subject of the talks. A senior Jordanian official denied that a Jordanian representative attended, calling the claims "blatant falsehoods promoted by Israeli media affiliated with Netanyahu for electioneering purposes."