Yemeni Missiles Deter Netanyahu from Going to UAE through Saudi Airspace - Tasnim News Agency

(Tasnim) – The Israeli prime minister said he was deterred from flying to the United Arab Emirates through Saudi Arabian airspace because of the threat of missile fire from Yemen.

Benjamin Netanyahu, whose comments came Saturday, had called off a visit to the Emirates on Thursday over a spat with Jordan, which had temporarily closed its airspace to the Israeli prime minister's flight.

But rather than bypass Jordanian airspace and take a more southerly route across Saudi skies, Netanyahu told Israel's Channel 13 "there were also problems a week ago in the skies of Saudi Arabia," referring to recent missile attacks by Yemeni army and Ansarullah movement.

Netanyahu did not elaborate, nor did he say his plane was targeted by the Yemenis, according to AP.

Netanyahu was slated to make the first official visit to the United Arab Emirates, half a year after Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi established formal relations. He had hoped to use the audience with the UAE’s crown prince to boost his reelection campaign less than two weeks before Israel's March 23 parliamentary elections.

His office said it had difficulties coordinating the flight over Jordanian airspace after Jordan’s crown prince canceled a visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem al-Quds, a sensitive holy site under Jordanian custodianship, due to disagreements over security arrangements.