Embattled Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz, who has come under fire from senior officials in his own ministry for failing to do his job, said Tuesday that he recently met with a "high-ranking persona" from the United Arab Emirates to improve ties between Israel and Arab states.
Katz told fellow ministers that he and the UAE official had reached "substantial agreements," adding that he was working toward "transparent normalization and signed agreements" with Gulf States.
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"We do not have a conflict with them," Katz added.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has often boasted of improving ties with Arab countries that share Israel's concerns about Iran. Katz visited the UAE for a UN conference earlier this year. The Foreign Ministry said he met with a senior UAE official while there. Netanyahu visited Oman last year.
Senior Foreign Ministry officials, however, blasted Katz for what they called his "limited functioning."
Speaking to Israel Hayom on Tuesday, the officials said Katz's presence was virtually unfelt and that he was completely uninvolved in many aspects of the ministry's daily affairs. They also noted that he hasn't resolved, even partially, the ministry's severe budgetary crisis. One senior diplomat even went as far as to label Katz a "puppet" and said that Netanyahu continues to manage foreign policy.
Upon his appointment nearly six months ago, Katz exacerbated diplomatic tensions with Poland by saying Poles "suckle anti-Semitism with their mothers' milk." He was immediately barred by the prime minister from dealing with Poland, and it appears that Netanyahu has also distanced him from other matters as well.
Since entering the Foreign Ministry, Katz has only visited two countries – the United States (three times) and Abu Dhabi. During his trip to Washington, he didn't meet with any senior administration officials, including his counterpart, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Last week, too, US President Donald Trump's envoys to the region, among them senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, didn't meet with Katz during their visit to Jerusalem.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, has continued to manage the country's foreign policy and even meet with visiting foreign ministers.
Katz's weakness was also evidenced after Israel's ambassador to Panama Reda Mansour, a member of the Druze minority, was subjected along with his family to a special security screening before departing from Ben-Gurion International Airport last week.
The Foreign Ministry independently supported Mansour and lambasted the Israel Airports Authority. Katz, on the other hand, only addressed the issue 24 hours after the fact. Moreover, only after President Reuven Rivlin and Netanyahu personally apologized to Mansour, did Katz eventually follow suit.
