Khaldoon al-Mubarak, the senior advisor to the President of the UAE, is currently visiting Israel.
The United Arab Emirates is considering reducing its level of diplomatic representation in Israel after Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in Paris that “there is no such thing as a Palestinian people,” according to Saudi reports on Monday.
According to the report, the Emirati Foreign Ministry ordered Emirati Ambassador to Israel Mohammed Al Khaja not to meet with any Israeli government officials.
Khaldoon al-Mubarak, the senior advisor to the President of the UAE, is currently visiting Israel, according to Walla News.
Netanyahu denies Israel-UAE relations in crisis
“Until we can be sure that Prime Minister Netanyahu has a government he can control, we will not be able to jointly operate.”
Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed
The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied allegations by Channel 12 that Israel is experiencing a crisis in its relations with the UAE after the country announced that it plans to stop a purchase of Israeli-made defense systems in protest of Netanyahu’s government, The Jerusalem Post reported earlier this month.
“Until we can be sure that Prime Minister Netanyahu has a government he can control, we will not be able to jointly operate,” Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed had reportedly told Israeli officials.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, March 2, 2023. (credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/FLASH90)Smotrich Huwara controversy
Last month, the UAE was among numerous countries that condemned a comment by Smotrich that the West Bank Palestinian town of Huwara “needs to be wiped out,” calling the comment “racist.”
Smotrich had later claimed that his comment had not been sincere and had apologized for it.
Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.
Content retrieved from: https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-735037.