Saudi Arabia denies meeting with Israeli officials in Abu Dhabi

Saudi Arabia has denied that its representatives took part in an expanded meeting in Abu Dhabi, following the talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed.

The denial came after Israeli media reports that Saudi representatives had taken part in broader talks that followed the meeting of the two leaders and that concerned, among other things, Iran, Yemen’s Houthis, security cooperation and regional defense systems.

“No official meeting, no talks, nothing. Our position regarding Israel has not changed,” a Saudi official told AFP.

Netanyahu was in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, where he met Mohammed bin Zayed. The visit was confirmed by the United Arab Emirates, where the two sides discussed bilateral relations and regional issues, with particular emphasis on Iran.

The United Arab Emirates is one of the Arab countries that maintain official diplomatic relations with Israel following the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020.

Saudi Arabia, for its part, has not normalized its relations with Israel and continues to tie any such development to the creation of a Palestinian state.

Riyadh had taken part in negotiations in 2023 on a possible normalization of relations with Israel, but the process was suspended after the outbreak of the war in Gaza.

The new denial shows that, despite the regional processes and the discussions about closer cooperation in the face of shared threats, the Saudi stance toward official relations with Israel has not changed.