ABU DHABI — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled secretly to the United Arab Emirates over the weekend, met with President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Sunday, and the meeting was confirmed by the UAE, denied by Saudi Arabia, warned about by Iran, and reported by Israeli media as an expanded session that may or may not have included Saudis, making it the most thoroughly documented secret meeting in diplomatic history.

The trip’s purpose, according to reports, was to ask the Emirati president to deny reports that he had warned Israel about a looming Hamas threat ahead of October. And the UAE did deny those reports, in a manner so precise that it declined to comment on media stories or speculation regarding conversations between government leaders, which is a denial of a different thing than the thing being denied, and diplomats everywhere have called that a masterclass.

Saudi Arabia then denied that its representatives had attended the expanded meeting, telling reporters the kingdom was not there, while Israeli media reported the expanded meeting discussed security cooperation, Iran, the Houthis, and regional defense systems. Both can be true. A meeting can include a Saudi denial of being at it, and the denial is often the most substantive item on the agenda.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry warned the UAE of “highly dangerous consequences” and urged regional countries to remain vigilant, the only party in the arrangement to state its position plainly, which in this region is considered an aggressive act.

"The UAE does not comment on media stories or speculation regarding conversations between government leaders," the Emirati Foreign Ministry said — a sentence that confirms the conversation while refusing the story, a diplomatic technique taught in graduate programs as the denial that denies only the paperwork.

WHO SAID WHAT ABOUT THE SECRET MEETING

  • UAE: Confirmed the meeting happened; declined to comment on what was said.
  • Saudi Arabia: Denied attending an expanded meeting that Israeli media reported as expanded.
  • Israel: Reported the expanded meeting; the Prime Minister's office had previously announced a meeting the UAE had previously denied.
  • Iran: Warned of highly dangerous consequences, the only party warning about anything at all.
  • Media stories: Speculated, which the UAE does not comment on.

At press time, the UAE had not denied the denial, and Saudi Arabia had not denied the denial of attendance, leaving the record clean: everyone agrees the meeting happened, and everyone agrees about which parts of it never did.