The United Arab Emirates denied a report by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Wednesday that the Israeli leader secretly traveled to the UAE during the war with Iran to meet with Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed, which would have marked the first known meeting between the two leaders since the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020.

The Prime Minister’s Office said that the meeting “resulted in a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.” However, the UAE’s ministry of foreign affairs released a statement hours later calling the claims “entirely unfounded.” 

“The United Arab Emirates denies reports circulating regarding an alleged visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the UAE, or receiving any Israeli military delegation in the country,” the statement read. “The UAE reaffirms that its relations with Israel are public and conducted within the framework of the well-known and officially declared Abraham Accords, and are not based on non-transparent or unofficial arrangements.”

According to Ziv Agnon, who was Netanyahu’s chief of staff until early April, bin Zayed picked Netanyahu up in his own car and drove him to the palace.

During the conflict in Iran, Israel and the UAE have seen a marked increase in military and intelligence cooperation. Mossad chief David Barnea also quietly visited the UAE at least twice over the course of the war with Iran to directly coordinate regional security strategies, sources told The Wall Street Journal.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee confirmed this week that Jerusalem dispatched an Iron Dome missile-defense battery to the UAE along with Israeli military personnel to operate it in order to shield the Gulf nation from Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks. 

Two Israeli jets landed in the city of Al-Ain in Abu Dhabi in late March, according to flight radars, and headed back to Israel after an apparent four-hour visit. 

The Israeli and Emirati leaders also reportedly met in secret in 2018, two years prior to the signing of the Abraham Accords.