Israel PM made secret visit to UAE, reports say

Janet Jaleel (0:00)

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Janet Jaleel, and at 15 Hours GMT on Monday, the 28th of September, these are our main stories. The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is reported to have flown to the UAE on Sunday for a secret meeting with its leader, Mohammed bin Zayed. We hear how unproven rape claims led to violent demonstrations erupting at an Indian university this weekend. And we have the latest on protests in Spain, sparked by the forced eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her flat.

Also in this podcast.

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Janet Jaleel (0:49)

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We start this podcast with allegations that the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled secretly to the United Arab Emirates this weekend. This comes amid an uproar over a report by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz earlier this month that the leader of the UAE had warned Mr Netanyahu that Hamas was planning to carry out attacks just days before the October 7th massacre that triggered the Gaza war. With elections now just a month away, Mr Netanyahu's rivals have seized on the report as just the latest example of warnings that he ignored. He, for his part, has denied the Haaretz report and threatened legal action against the newspaper. Israeli media is reporting that his trip to the UAE over the weekend was to ask its leader, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, to also deny the reports that he had been warned about a looming Hamas threat. I got more on all this with our Middle East correspondent, Yolande Nel, who's in Jerusalem.

Yolande Nel (1:59)

According to Israel's Channel 12, which broke this report, it says that Mr Netanyahu and his entourage took a number of different private planes in order to make the journey to the United Arab Emirates and that they stayed there for some four hours, that the aim of the visit was to have a one-on-one meeting with Mohammed bin Zayed, the Emirati president. And this has not been confirmed by the Israeli Prime Minister's office, nor by the Emirati Foreign Ministry, but there are several Israeli media that are quoting a senior Israeli official who's told them that indeed this trip did happen. And then there's that intriguing report from the Associated Press, which is quoting two sources who are briefed on this trip, it says, and saying that the trip took place specifically for Mr. Netanyahu to ask MBZ, as the Emirati leader is known by his initials, to deny these reports that continue to circulate in Israel, saying that MBZ gave Mr. Netanyahu a warning in September 2023, so really not very long before the Hamas-led deadly attacks of the 7th of October, saying that the then leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, was indeed planning a major operation. And Mr. Netanyahu reported to have responded calmly to that, the implication as that he didn't follow up on this warning. Now, he has strenuously denied that that is the case, and he has threatened to sue the Haaretz newspaper for defamation.

Janet Jaleel (3:40)

We're just a month away from elections now in Israel, this is really turning into a key issue for voters.

Yolande Nel (3:47)

Yes, this is a very tightly run election, and it's all happening within that context. Certainly, Mr. Netanyahu's political rivals, the opposition figures, have really seized on these reports, and there are others too suggesting that there were Arab world warnings given to Mr. Netanyahu. He calls all of those an absolute lie, but his opponents say that it is more proof that he is unfit for office. Now, this is really leading to more calls for a state commission of inquiry, formal investigations into who knew what and when ahead of the 7th of October attacks. And of course, that just feeds into Israeli social divisions. Societies become very polarised around this issue, and it's an extremely sensitive timing as well. Just going into the 7th of October, the third anniversary of those deadly, unprecedented attacks on Israel.

Janet Jaleel (4:43)

New Zealand Nell in Jerusalem, next to the Indian state of Punjab.

Where violent protests at a university campus broke out at the weekend over unproven claims that a female student had been raped at a hostel near the private lovely professional university in Fagbara. More than 2000 police officers had to be deployed to quell the violence. The Director General of Police of the Punjab, Gaurav Yadav, said officers had exercised restraint and that an investigation has now been launched.