Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled his planned trip to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain for next week, citing the halting of all passenger flights in and out of Israel due to COVID-19.
The Prime Minister’s Office statement said Netanyahu was doing so “despite the importance of the trip.”
“Netanyahu very much appreciates the invitations from Crown Prince [of Abu Dhabi] Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayed and the King of Bahrain Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa and the historic peace between our countries,” the statement reads.
BREAKING: Netanyahu cancels visits to UAE and Bahrain, despite having just confirmed the Abu Dhabi leg of the trip in recent days. Developing...... @all_israel_news pic.twitter.com/t4RG7jtmxl
— Joel C. Rosenberg (@JoelCRosenberg) February 4, 2021
This is the third time Netanyahu has postponed a trip to the UAE due to coronavirus-related restrictions and political developments in Israel.
Netanyahu was expected to visit Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, as well as Manama, Bahrain next week, stopping only for a few hours in each, due to coronavirus restrictions and concerns over its more-contagious variants.
The prime minister had planned to meet the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi in his palace.
The trip “has great security, national and international importance, but it has been shortened, at my request, from three days to three hours,” Netanyahu said in a press conference on Tuesday, adding that he was skipping a planned stop in Dubai.
Netanyahu cancels for the 3rd time his trip to the UAE and Bahrain https://t.co/kh4CrL7KIx via @BarakRavid
— Liveuamap MiddleEast (@lummideast) February 4, 2021
The Prime Minister of Greece is expected to visit Israel on Monday, despite the airport closure. Private planes are still able to depart and enter Israel, as the attorney-general said blocking them would be illegal.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
