Because of security concerns, the Israeli foreign minister postpones a visit to the Emirates

Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz canceled a visit to the Emirate of Dubai, against the backdrop of security directives for his country's intelligence following the US assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.

On Sunday, two diplomats linked the decision to postpone the visit and the escalating tension between the United States and Iran.

Cats, who also heads the Intelligence Ministry, was scheduled to attend meetings in mid-January in Dubai as part of preparations for Expo 2020, but an Israeli diplomat said the minister would postpone the visit "with instructions from security officials." The diplomat did not specify a new date for the visit.

Another diplomat, who also declined to be identified, said that Israel feared that Iran would target Katz in the Gulf as part of its response to its ally, the United States. The diplomat did not provide evidence of any specific threat.

Israel has a special pavilion at Expo Dubai 2020, which opens in October, a participation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described as "normalization of relations with Arab countries."

And Israeli Channel 12 said on Sunday that the visit was also aimed at holding political meetings with the aim of pushing the "non-aggression" agreement between Israel and the Gulf states, adopted by Netanyahu, under the auspices of the US administration.

Early last month, Minister Katz revealed in an interview with Army Radio that "an Israeli delegation arrived in the American capital Washington for advanced talks on the possibility of reaching an agreement (non-aggression) between Israel and the Gulf states."

Cats then noted that the Israeli delegation includes representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice, the National Security Council, and the army.

With the exception of Egypt and Jordan, the Arab countries do not have public diplomatic relations with Israel.

And the arrival of Israeli delegations in the UAE in the recent period, among which was the departure of a high-ranking delegation from the Israeli Ministry of Justice to the capital Abu Dhabi in the middle of last month, to participate in an international conference to combat corruption.

The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported on its website at the time that the delegation was headed by Dina Zilber, Deputy Attorney General, and included high-ranking officials from the criminal and international division of the Public Prosecution Office.