Netanyahu scheduled UAE trip in question due to wife Sarah's health

According to the Ynet news site, the prime minister was leaning toward scrapping Thursday’s trip after Sara Netanyahu’s hospitalization with an appendix infection late Wednesday. Officials said a final decision would soon be made.

Netanyahu had been scheduled to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Thursday, in his first official visit to the Gulf country since Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi forged diplomatic ties last year.

Reports Wednesday suggested Netanyahu may also meet Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok during the trip, which comes 12 days before Israel holds its fourth national election in two years.

The trip has been planned for several months but postponed on numerous occasions, most recently in February. Netanyahu had originally been set to make the trip in November, then December, and then in January and February, but the pandemic, scheduling issues, and internal political crises led him to postpone repeatedly.

The Prime Minister’s Office said last month that the trip would be indefinitely postponed due to the closing down of air travel to and from Israel as part of a national lockdown aimed at preventing coronavirus variants from being imported from abroad.

Netanyahu has been seen as eager to make the trip before the March 23 elections to tout his diplomatic achievements and boost his campaign.

The trip was expected to be a celebration of Israel’s normalization deals as well as a move to boost Netanyahu’s diplomatic credentials ahead of elections. Netanyahu may also hope to use the visit to consolidate a campaign against a US return to the Iran nuclear deal.

Emirati officials told the Walla news site Wednesday that there had been concerns the visit would be seen as an intervention in the Israeli elections, but in the end Abu Dhabi agreed to the trip.

Surveys show the prime minister struggling to muster the 61-seat Knesset majority that would enable him to form a coalition, though his rivals also have no clear route to power, and the timing of the trip may bolster Netanyahu’s campaign.

Netanyahu tasked Mossad intelligence agency chief Yossi Cohen with persuading the UAE to agree to the visit, Axios reported, and it was not clear what, if anything, was promised to the Emiratis in return for their consent. “The Emiratis sent signals that they’d rather postpone the visit until after the elections, but Netanyahu and Cohen pressed hard until the Emiratis agreed,” Axios said.

Regional Cooperation Minister Ofir Akunis, of Netanyahu’s Likud party, appeared to confirm the planned trip Thursday in an interview with Army Radio. He denied it was being organized as an election stunt.

“The visit isn’t the result of pleading,” Akunis said. “Netanyahu was meant to go there in the past, but the trip was delayed due to Israel’s skies closing. Attributing this to the election is like attributing the [COVID-19] vaccination [campaign] to the elections.”

The Kan public broadcaster reported Wednesday that there were “advanced contacts” on setting up a meeting with the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia. The report, which did not cite a source, didn’t provide further details.

The Reuters news agency, however, cited an official Saudi source denying that Prince Mohammed bin Salman would visit the UAE Thursday or meet Netanyahu.

Separately, Channel 13 news reported Wednesday that Netanyahu may meet with his Sudanese counterpart Abdalla Hamdok while in the UAE. The report said Israel is in talks to make the meeting happen, but didn’t give further details.

Netanyahu met last year in Uganda with Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the head of Sudan’s ruling sovereign council.

Channel 12 news reported Wednesday that the premier would only be at the airport in Abu Dhabi and Thursday’s trip wasn’t expected to last more than a few hours.