A senior Emirati official said that his country would open an embassy in Israel within 3 to 5 months. On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied again his approval of the United States selling F-35 fighters to the UAE.

"Israel Today" newspaper - Friday - quoted an unnamed Emirati official from the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying, "I think the Israelis will be able to obtain travel visas to the UAE from an embassy that will open in Israel 3 to 5 months from now."

The Israeli Foreign Ministry announced this week that officials from both sides discussed opening embassies in Israel and the UAE, during talks that took place in Abu Dhabi with the participation of US officials.

The same Israeli newspaper also quoted the Emirati official as saying that "Abu Dhabi is considering opening a consulate in Haifa or Nazareth (north), which works alongside the embassy in Israel."

"We aspire to a peace agreement with Israel, but in reality peace is with all Israelis, and it is very important for us to be available to the Arab residents of Israel, whom we consider an important partner for warm peace," he added.

On August 13, the UAE and Israel reached an agreement to normalize relations between them, which was met with widespread Palestinian condemnation, as the Palestinian factions and leadership considered it a "betrayal" by Abu Dhabi and a stab in the back of the Palestinian people.

Israeli objection

In a related context, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office denied again - yesterday, Friday - his approval of the US sale of "F-35" fighters to the UAE.

The (official) Israeli Broadcasting Corporation quoted a statement from Netanyahu's office, stating that "the repetition of the false allegation against Prime Minister Netanyahu does not make it true."

The statement added that Netanyahu did not grant at any point in the talks between Israel and the United States that led to a historic breakthrough with the UAE on August 13, the approval of Israel to sell advanced weapons to Abu Dhabi.

The American New York Times quoted officials familiar with the talks as saying that "Netanyahu secretly approved a plan by the administration of US President Donald Trump to sell advanced weapons to the UAE, despite the prime minister's public opposition to the deal at a later time."

The officials said Netanyahu chose not to try to block the deal because he had participated in a broader effort in recent months to secure a diplomatic breakthrough to normalize relations between Israel and the UAE.

Two weeks ago, Netanyahu said that the agreement between Israel and the UAE did not include the sale of F-35 fighters to the UAE.

But the Israeli website "Walla" quoted the senior adviser to US President Jared Kushner as telling reporters - on August 31 - that "Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump will discuss the possibility of the United States selling F-35 fighters to the UAE."

In recent weeks, the White House has accelerated its efforts to sell advanced weapons to the UAE, including F-35 fighter jets and Reaper drones.

The deal also includes EA-18G Growler planes and electronic warfare aircraft that pave the way for covert attacks by jamming the enemy's air defenses. This element of the package was not previously reported.