Netanyahu’s deferral of postponed Persian Gulf trips could hurt Israel-UAE ties

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to postpone his first visit to the United Arab Emirates for the third time could possibly damage the prospects of their nascent diplomatic relations after Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv agreed to normalize ties. His office said on Thursday that Netanyahu has delayed his trips to the Persian Gulf country and neighboring Bahrain over what was described as restrictions on air travel as part of the COVID-19 lockdown in the occupied territories. The cancellation came after Israeli and UAE teams had actually coordinated the logistics of Netanyahu’s visit. Late last month, Hebrew-language media outlets reported that the Israeli premier had significantly...