Skip to content

All the news that matters, in plain English.

Latest
  1. DoorDash opens first India office in Hyderabad, plans 3,000-plus jobs
  2. Turkey seeks freeze of ex-minister Kaya's assets as fund probe widens
  3. Gor hosts US ambassadors' regional conference in New Delhi as Rubio joins virtually
  4. Greggs to close four manufacturing sites in overhaul putting around 740 jobs at risk
  5. Iran's Revolutionary Guards urge Americans to vote out Trump's allies in Congress
  6. Punjab forms high-powered committee to review Hina Javed murder probe
  7. South Korea to seek Interpol red notices over 'Xi Jinping' restaurant attack
  8. India's women's compound archery team wins Asian Games gold, equalling world record

World

Saudi Arabia denies any talks with Netanyahu in UAE

A Saudi official told AFP the kingdom took no part in meetings with Benjamin Netanyahu in Abu Dhabi and that its stance on Israel remains unchanged

By Sarah Whitfield · · 1 min read

Riyadh skyline at sunset with the Kingdom Centre tower on the right
Photo: mo--, via Wikimedia Commons

A Saudi official on Tuesday denied reports that representatives of the kingdom had participated in a meeting in Abu Dhabi on Sunday between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

“No official meetings. No talks. Nothing whatsoever. Our stance on Israel remains unchanged,” the official told AFP, according to The Hindu’s AFP dispatch. The denial followed claims in Israeli media that Saudi officials had attended an expanded meeting after the Netanyahu-MBZ talks.

Those Israeli media reports said the supposed expanded meeting focused on security cooperation, Iran, Yemen’s Houthis and regional defence systems. The Saudi official’s statement rejects any Saudi participation in such discussions.

The denial is a follow-up to the UAE’s confirmation on Monday that Netanyahu made an unannounced visit to Abu Dhabi on Sunday, as reported by Flip News (netanyahu-secret-abu-dhabi-visit-confirmed). Neither Israel nor the UAE has publicly responded to the Saudi denial, according to the AFP dispatch.

Saudi Arabia has maintained that it will not normalise relations with Israel without a clear path to Palestinian statehood, while the UAE signed the Abraham Accords during Donald Trump’s first US presidential term in 2020.

Sources

More on this topic: all World stories

Get Flip News by email

This opens your email app — we add you manually. No account, no spam, no third parties.