WASHINGTON — Officially, their governments don’t speak. The United ArabEmirates doesn’t even formally recognize that Israel exists.
But an impromptu bit of dinner diplomacy between Israel’s prime ministerand a prominent Emirati ambassador sheds light on one of the worst keptsecrets in the Arab world: the quiet ties between Israel and some of itsArab neighbors that are increasingly coming out in the open as they findcommon cause against mutual foe Iran.
The venue back in March was Cafe Milano, the upscale Georgetown restaurantoften frequented by powerful Washingtonians, from Barack Obama to TrumpCabinet members. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in town for anannual pro-Israel policy conference, was midway through dinner with hiswife, Sara, when an unexpected request came his way.
By coincidence, the Emirati ambassador to the U.S., Yousef al-Otaiba, wasat the restaurant hosting Brian Hook, the State Department’s policyplanning chief, and a group of U.S. journalists, along with Bahrain’sambassador, Sheikh Abdullah bin Rashed bin Abdullah Al Khalifa.
The Americans dining with Otaiba got wind that Netanyahu was nearby. Wordwas sent to see if the Israeli would mind making an appearance at theirdinner. That request first passed through the restaurant’s owner, then oneof the journalists, who had walked by Netanyahu’s table while on the way tothe restroom.
It wasn’t long before Netanyahu and his wife came over to say hello ontheir way out. They lingered, answering a few questions from the groupabout Iran and other issues. There were smiles, a few laughs about theoddity of the situation, and Netanyahu shook hands with the two ambassadorsbefore leaving the restaurant.
Neither the Israelis nor the Emiratis publicly disclosed the encounter, butit was described to The Associated Press by six people who either attendedthe dinner or were briefed on it. The individuals who attended spoke oncondition of anonymity because the dinner’s ground rules were that it beconsidered off the record. The AP did not attend the dinner.
The Israeli and Emirati embassies in Washington declined to comment.