A senior Saudi official denies reports of a meeting between Saudi and Israeli officials, after the Ynet news site reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had met with Middle Eastern officials, including a Saudi official, during his recent visit to the United Arab Emirates.
Ynet issued a correction following its initial report, which didn’t cite a source, saying it couldn’t confirm such a meeting was held.
The report has also been denied by Jordan, which the outlet claimed was represented at the meeting along with Morocco and other unspecified countries.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says the premier updated Opposition Leader Yair Lapid about warnings of “possible attacks on various fronts” ahead of the upcoming elections during their security briefing tonight, while his ruling Likud party slams Lapid for criticizing Netanyahu in a statement following the sit-down.
During the intelligence briefing, “warnings of possible attacks on various fronts in the run-up to the elections were presented in detail,” the Prime Minister’s Office says, without elaborating further.
Netanyahu’s military secretary Maj. Gen. Guy Markizeno and the Military Secretariat’s intelligence officer also took part in the meeting, according to the PMO.
In a separate statement, Netanyahu’s Likud party says Lapid left the meeting at 11:39 p.m, and “just two minutes later, at record speed, he published a lengthy statement consisting entirely of a political attack on the prime minister.”
“Either he writes at the speed of light, or the statement was prepared in advance, regardless of the briefing that was presented to him,” the party charges.
UNITED NATIONS — An informal poll by the United Nations Security Council places former Costa Rican vice president Rebeca Grynspan as the frontrunner in the contest to become the 10th UN secretary-general, sources close to the process say.
Grynspan, the daughter of two Jewish refugees who fled the Second World War, has maintained a fairly consistent lead in the straw polls.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
After meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a security briefing, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says “there’s no reason to put the public in a panic,” appearing to criticize the premier for claiming there was a pre-election plot to attack Israel.
Lapid says “security threats are something that must be handled professionally and responsibly. Israel’s security and IDF bases are not the setting for election videos,” in a social media post. Netanyahu had delivered his warning about an ostensible pre-election enemy attack plot during a visit to the Tel Nof air base.
“In any case, the elections will be held on time, and no one has an excuse to disrupt them,” he says.
Further denouncing Netanyahu, Lapid said that IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir “has raised 10 red flags about the shortage of combat soldiers and the erosion in the IDF. If Netanyahu is so worried about the security situation, he should draft the 15,000 ultra-Orthodox men that the IDF needs.”
Lapid says he demanded Netanyahu convene a meeting with the two of them together with the Shin Bet head and Central Elections Committee head “to ensure everyone is updated and coordinated ahead of the election.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry warns of “highly dangerous consequences” to the United Arab Emirates after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit on Sunday.
Labeling Netanyahu “the child-killing and war-mongering Prime Minister of the Zionist regime,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry says, “the presence of a criminal whose hands are stained with the blood of hundreds of thousands of innocent people and who is under prosecution by international courts is extremely dangerous and alarming,” according to an unofficial translation by Tehran’s embassy in India of a statement.
“Undoubtedly, given the proven hostility and animosity of the Zionist regime toward Iran and other countries of the region, as well as the regime’s repeated threats against the Islamic Republic of Iran, all countries of the region should be vigilant about the consequences and repercussions of such a presence, which threatens the collective peace and security of the region,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry says.
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