Netanyahu meets UAE president in expanded talks with 10 nations

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan convened an expanded meeting in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday that brought together officials from 10 countries to address regional security arrangements and intelligence cooperation, Israeli media said.

Regional security talks

The session unfolded in two distinct stages, Channel 14 said, with Netanyahu and Sheikh Mohamed first holding private deliberations before welcoming representatives from the US, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Egypt, Kuwait, Bahrain, Libya and Oman alongside their own delegations. The enlarged forum examined mechanisms for deepening security and intelligence coordination between Israel and the UAE while constructing a regional defense architecture against "shared threats," with specific focus on Iran and Yemen's Houthi group, an unnamed Emirati source told the broadcaster.

Participants also reviewed intelligence and security assistance packages for Saudi Arabia and weighed the creation of a new regional alliance, the report said, noting that delegates explored establishing an oil transport corridor that would circumvent the Strait of Hormuz. None of the governments named in the account issued immediate public statements regarding the discussions.

Diplomatic context

The UAE's official WAM news agency confirmed on Monday that Sheikh Mohamed had received Netanyahu during a Sunday visit, stating that the two leaders addressed bilateral ties and avenues for strengthening them. Netanyahu's office subsequently verified the trip and identified his delegation as National Security Council chief Shmuel Ben Ezra, Mossad chief Roman Gofman, Military Secretary Guy Markizano and political adviser Ophir Falk.