The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the head Israel’s Mossad spy agency visited the UAE twice during the recent U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign of Iran. “The head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency visited the United Arab Emirates at least twice during the war with Iran for the purpose of coordination about the war, according to Arab officials and a person familiar with the matter, in a sign of the growing partnership between Israel and the Arab Gulf kingdom,” the Journal reported on its live update page. “Spy chief David Barnea secretly visited the U.A.E. on at least two separate occasions, in March and April, the people said.” The WSJ account relies on anonymous sources, and neither government has confirmed the alleged visits.
The report on Barnea came the same day the Times of Israel reported that Israeli Prime Netanyahu announced he made a secret visit to the UAE during the war and met with the country’s president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed.
The UAE issued an on-record denial. “The UAE reaffirms that its relations with Israel are public and conducted within the framework of the well-known and officially declared Abraham Accords, and are not based on non-transparent or unofficial arrangements,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, reported The National. The ministry added that claims regarding unannounced visits or undisclosed arrangements are “entirely unfounded unless officially announced by the relevant authorities in the UAE"—language broad enough to include both the Barnea and Netanyahu reports.
