Representatives from ten countries participated in the gathering centered around the meeting between Netanyahu and Bin Zayed, a senior UAE official told us: Israel, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Morocco, Kuwait, Bahrain, Libya, Oman, and Egypt.
Initially, Netanyahu and Bin Zayed met with representatives from Israel and the UAE. Subsequently, representatives from the other nations joined the expanded portion of the meeting. Netanyahu was accompanied by Mossad chief Roman Gofman—who had managed the preparations for the meeting on the Israeli side—as well as his wife Sara Netanyahu, the head of the National Security Council, Military Secretary Major General Guy Markizano, and the Prime Minister’s foreign policy advisor.
The talks focused on the Iranian threat, alongside strengthening cooperation between Israel and Gulf states, economic issues, and Israeli defense systems. Meanwhile, the Italian newspaper “Il Foglio” recently reported that Saddam Haftar—son of Khalifa Haftar, commander of forces in eastern Libya—also arrived in Abu Dhabi and held a secret meeting with Netanyahu. This report has not been officially confirmed by any of the parties involved.
A dispute also arose regarding the very disclosure of the visit. The Shin Bet filed a complaint with the Military Censor against Channel 12 after the network reported on Netanyahu’s secret visit to the United Arab Emirates while his plane was still outside Israeli airspace.
The Shin Bet argued that the timing of the report endangered the safety of the Prime Minister, the delegation members, and the entire operation, and even exposed the security apparatus’s operational methods. The Mossad also joined in the criticism, describing the leak as a “serious security threat” in an official assessment. Consequently, the Shin Bet is demanding that the channel face the full extent of the law for what it termed a “severe censorship violation.”