In addition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mossad Director David Barnea and Shin Bet Director David Zini, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir also flew to the United Arab Emirates and visited the country, accompanied by senior defense officials, during “Operation Roaring Lion/Epic Fury,” it can be reported.
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that during “Operation Roaring Lion,” Netanyahu made a clandestine visit to the UAE, which sits roughly 155 miles from Iran, and met during the trip with the country’s president, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is also the ruler of Abu Dhabi. The Prime Minister’s Office said the visit produced a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the UAE.
The visit lasted only a few hours and was carried out with the knowledge of only a handful of people in the prime minister’s inner circle, owing to the substantial security risk posed by traveling so close to Iran in the middle of the war. An Emirati official told Israel Hayom, “Bibi came here because he wanted to show that he does not abandon his allies. He is proving that he stands by his partners. Even his detractors here admit it.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that the Mossad director visited the UAE twice to coordinate the war against Iran. In parallel, after the disclosure in the United States, Israel’s Kan Bet public radio news channel revealed that the Shin Bet director had also been in the UAE.
Originally published by Israel Hayom.
