Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with representatives from nine Middle Eastern and North African countries during a secret visit to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, last week, according to Israeli media.
uncertain
Netanyahu → meet → media
The Sunday meeting itself was confirmed by Israel and the UAE, but few details were given outside of the relaying of discussions of bilateral relations.
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details → confirm → relations
On Tuesday, Israeli Channel 14 reported that the trip involved a meeting of much greater importance, featuring representatives from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Kuwait, Bahrain, Libya, Oman, and Egypt, along with the United States.
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trip → report → States
The 10-nation summit hasn’t been publicly confirmed by any of the alleged participants.
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summit → confirm → participants
The Washington Examiner reached out to the State Department for confirmation and comment.
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Examiner → reach → confirmation
Different Israeli media outlets gave different, occasionally contradictory details about the meeting.
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outlets → give → meeting
Ynet reported that representatives from Jordan and Qatar, countries absent from Channel 14’s list, “apparently” attended the meeting.
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representatives → report → meeting
The meeting centered on Netanyahu, his retinue including Mossad chief Roman Gofman, and Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, according to Channel 14.
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meeting → center → Channel
It was focused on Iran, strengthening Israeli-Gulf ties, economic issues, and Israeli defense systems.
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It → focus → ties
Of the eight Muslim nations involved in the meeting, only Egypt, the UAE, Morocco, and Bahrain have official relations with Israel.
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Egypt → involve → Israel
Though Israel is known to have discreet ties with some of the others on the list, including Saudi Arabia, official recognition of Israel remains radioactive in the Muslim world, made worse by the war in Gaza.
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recognition → know → Gaza
Further details of Libya’s delegation emerged through the Italian outlet Il Foglio, which claimed that Saddam Haftar, the son of Libyan National Army commander Khalifa Haftar, one of Libya’s two rival leaders, landed in Abu Dhabi for the meeting.
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Haftar → emerge → meeting
The outlet cited flight data showing that a private Airbus jet used by the aspiring leader landed just 20 minutes after Netanyahu, and that Mohamed Buisier, a former Haftar adviser who turned against the family, was on board.
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who → cite → board
“Saddam met Netanyahu to secure political support for his bid for the Libyan presidency,” Buisier told Il Foglio.
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Buisier → meet → Foglio
Saddam Haftar is pursuing a deal through which Libya’s two rival factions will unite under a single government, with himself as president.
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factions → pursue → president
The civil war between his father’s forces and the rival Tripoli-based Government of National Accord has pitted two hodgepodge alliances against each other, with the UAE, Russia, and Egypt backing Haftar’s Government of National Stability, and Qatar, Turkey, and Italy backing the GNA.
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Qatar → base → GNA
Though the 10-country meeting was not disclosed, Netanyahu’s office and the UAE confirmed the Israeli prime minister’s visit, the first time both have done so together.
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both → disclose → visit
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife visited the United Arab Emirates yesterday at the invitation of the UAE President, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed,” Netanyahu’s office said in a Monday statement.
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office → visit → statement
“The visit focused on strengthening relations between the two countries and on regional challenges.
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visit → focus → challenges
The Prime Minister was accompanied by the head of the National Security Council, the head of the Mossad, the military secretary and the foreign policy adviser.”
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Minister → accompany → Mossad
The UAE’s statement was more brief: “The Israeli prime minister and His Highness discussed bilateral relations between the two countries and ways to strengthen and develop them.”
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minister → discuss → them
Netanyahu previously disclosed a secret trip to the UAE during the height of hostilities against Iran, though the UAE denied it.
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UAE → disclose → it
Netanyahu’s visit, and the reported 10-country summit, took place around the backdrop of several significant developments involving Israel and the Gulf states.
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visit → report → Israel
Shortly before the meeting, a bombshell report from Haaretz claimed that bin Zayed personally warned Netanyahu that Hamas was planning a major attack in the lead-up to Oct. 7, 2023, a report Netanyahu vigorously denied.
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Netanyahu → claim → report
Haaretz then reported that Netanyahu personally urged bin Zayed to publicly deny the report during his Sunday visit.
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Netanyahu → report → visit
While the war with Iran remains locked in a tense standoff, the Yemeni civil war exploded earlier this month, allowing the Houthis the opportunity to rout government forces and seize the entire Red Sea coast.
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war → lock → coast
The issue of the Houthis likely featured prominently in the Sunday meeting, serving as a major coalescence of the direct interests of Israel, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.
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issue → feature → Israel
Previous reports claimed Saudi Arabia was directly seeking Israeli assistance in the war with the Houthis, where Saudi Arabia is the most prominent belligerent on the government’s side.
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Arabia → claim → side
A domestic scandal broke out around Netanyahu’s visit after the Israeli Channel 12 reported about it while he was still outside Israeli airspace.
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he → break → airspace
Netanyahu’s office said the report “put their lives at risk” and that Israeli counterintelligence personnel filed a complaint with the military censor demanding the outlet “be held fully accountable over a serious censorship violation.”
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outlet → say → violation
The Aporia
