Israel Chief of Staff secretly visited UAE, met Bin Zayed

Israel’s Chief of Staff secretly visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in November and visited the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Israel’s Public Broadcaster – known as KAN – reported on Friday that General Gadi Eizenkot secretly visited the Gulf country and met with senior Emirati military officials. The revelation was made by head of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Mort Friedman, who said that Abu Dhabi is to buy arms from Israel and that Emirati officials would visit Israel very soon.

AIPAC’s head also revealed that Bahrain is the next target for overt relations with Israel, adding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to visit the country soon. Friedman added that Saudi Arabia has given the green light for Manama to open an official Israeli representation office during the visit.

“Today, Saudi Arabia is the closest ally for Israel in all regional and international issues,” Friedman said, adding: “Relations with most of these countries have become warmer today, to the degree that some of the royal families in the Gulf States have visited Israel.”

He added: “The US President Donald Trump sometimes prefers Israel’s interests over the interests of the US,” stressing he had already defended Israel too much during his tenure.

Read: Official: Israel must be careful in its relations with Gulf states