Senior Emirati scholar says ‘war criminal’ Netanyahu never visited UAE

<article data-history-node-id="440290" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/senior-emirati-scholar-says-war-criminal-netanyahu-never-visited-uae" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/senior-emirati-scholar-says-war-criminal-netanyahu-never-visited-uae" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">Senior Emirati scholar says ‘war criminal’ Netanyahu never visited UAE</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>Emirati scholar Abdulkhaleq Abdulla has&nbsp;called&nbsp;Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "war criminal" who is wholly unwelcome in the United Arab Emirates, after the country's foreign ministry issued a statement denying that Netanyahu ever came to visit UAE ruler Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan.&nbsp;</p> <p>Netanyahu made a "secret" visit to the UAE in March, amid the US-Israeli war on Iran,&nbsp;his own office&nbsp;said in a statement on Wednesday.&nbsp;</p> <p>"There is no welcome whatsoever for a war criminal and the killer of Gaza's children on the pure soil of the Emirates," Abdulla, who is a non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, DC,&nbsp;wrote on X on Thursday.</p> <p>"The visit that Netanyahu is talking about is a fabrication from his sick imagination, and it is well known that he is a prolific liar who released this lie to serve opportunistic electoral purposes."</p> <p>In a statement, the UAE foreign ministry said its "relations with Israel are public and conducted within the framework of the well-known and officially declared Abraham Accords, and are not based on non-transparent or unofficial arrangements".</p> <h3>Read more:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/senior-emirati-scholar-says-war-criminal-netanyahu-never-visited-uae">Senior Emirati scholar says ‘war criminal’ Netanyahu never visited UAE</a></h3> <p><img alt src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/max_2600x2600/public/images-story/2026-05-04T093417Z_475052327_RC292LAHWKLQ_RTRMADP_3_EMIRATES-CONFERENCE-2.jpg.jpg?itok=L9JRCwhq"></p> </div> </div> </article>