Report: IDF’s Eizenkot Visited UAE Twice ‎in Last Month

YERUSHALAYIM
Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (R.) talks with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Nov. 22. (Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via Reuters)

According to a report in a Lebanese daily on Friday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot visited ‎the United Arab Emirates twice over the past month.

‎Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar newspaper said that during both visits to Abu Dhabi, Eizenkot met with Crown Prince ‎Mohammed bin Zayed. ‎

The meetings focused on a potential Israeli arms ‎sale to the UAE, the report said, adding that ‎Eizenkot and the crown prince also discussed a future visit ‎by UAE defense officials to Israel. ‎

The report claimed that Prime ‎Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was looking to normalize ‎Israel’s relations with Bahrain.‎

Quoting American Israel Public Affairs Committee ‎President Mort Fridman, the report said that Saudi ‎Arabia, Bahrain’s regional patron, has given the UAE its consent to set up an economic ‎mission in Israel and to host a corresponding ‎Israeli mission in Manama.‎

The report also said that Netanyahu was currently ‎exploring visiting Bahrain, as part of his efforts ‎to promote diplomatic normalization between Israel and the moderate Sunni states in the ‎Persian Gulf. ‎

Kuwait is also eyeing normalizing relations with ‎Israel, but prefers to be the last Gulf state to do ‎so, Al-Akhbar reported. ‎

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