Israeli PM Bennett snaps UAE visit amid standoff Iran

TEL AVIV (Israel) -- On Thursday, Naftali Bennett, Israeli Prime Minister, made a surprise trip to the United Arab Emirates.

Israeli PM Bennett snaps UAE visit amid standoff Iran

TEL AVIV (Israel) -- On Thursday, Naftali Bennett, Israeli Prime Minister, made a surprise trip to the United Arab Emirates. The visit was made as Iran's nuclear program is under threat and efforts to salvage a deal are in deepening conflict with Tehran.

Bennett made the second visit to Abu Dhabi after Israel and UAE had agreed to normalize relations in 2020. This was after years of peaceful cooperation, mainly due to their mutual concerns about Iran's nuclear capability.

Bennett's office stated that Bennett will meet Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (the UAE president) and will discuss "various issues." Iran will likely be the top of the agenda.

Bennett made a video before he left. He praised the countries that attended Wednesday's International Atomic Energy Agency meeting, Vienna. They voted to censure Iran for not being transparent about its nuclear activities at three unreported sites.

"We see here a strong stance by countries around the world regarding the distinction of good and evil. They clearly state that Iran is hiding things. He stated that he would not relent on the issue.

According to the IAEA, Iran will increase its uranium enrichment through the installation of advanced centrifuges. The key ingredient in the production of a nuclear weapon is advanced uranium enrichment.

Israel regards Iran as its greatest enemy. It strongly opposed 2015's deal between Iran, world powers and Iran. This agreement eased sanctions on Iran in return for reducing nuclear activity.

Israel wants a better deal that puts tighter restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program, addresses Iran’s long-range missile program, and addresses its support for hostile proxy forces along Israel's border. Israel says that the negotiations must include a credible military threat to Iran in order to prevent it from stalling for too long.

Trump unilaterally pulled America out of the agreement in 2018. This caused tensions throughout the Middle East and a number of incidents. The deal was quickly dissolved by Trump's unilateral withdrawal.

Since April, talks in Vienna have been deadlocked over Iran's broken nuclear deal. Iran has had advanced centrifuges since the collapse of the nuclear deal and has an ever-growing stockpile enriched uranium. Israeli leaders claim Iran is only weeks away from having enough enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon. However, other components of a bomb may be months or even years away.

Iran claims its nuclear program is peaceful, but U.N. experts as well as Western intelligence agencies claim that Iran had an organized nuclear program from 2003 to 2003.

The UAE and Israel agreed to thaw ties in accordance with the U.S.-brokered agreements called the "Abraham Accords" which also saw similar deals with Sudan, Morocco, and Bahrain. To the dismay and surprise of the Palestinians, who had relied for decades on the support of the Arab world to provide leverage against Israel, Israel and UAE have cultivated ties in tourism, trade and investment.

Bennett's visit comes at a time when Israel is in another political crisis. Members of Bennett's fragile coalition are threatening to leave unless the government passes a law regarding the legal status for West Bank settlers.

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