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.

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When Katz began his tenure as foreign minister in February 2019, he learned there were countries that agree in principle to open their embassies in Jerusalem but seek reciprocal measures from Israel in exchange. For example, Honduras and El Salvador have agreed to open embassies in Jerusalem but want Israel to open full diplomatic missions in their respective capitals in return – a move which hasn't been forthcoming on Israel's part.

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Other countries have requested developmental and economic aid from Israel, while also hoping such a move would open doors in the United Sates and have even asked Israel to help pay for the relocation to Jerusalem. In these cases, too, there has been little to no Israeli follow-up, which has stalled progress on the matter.

In his upcoming presentation to the government, Katz will propose giving countries willing to move their embassies to Jerusalem an aid package worth NIS 50 million (around $14.2 million). Because Israel is preparing for another general election, scheduled for September 17, Katz's proposal pertains to the 2020 national budget. However, according to his proposal, he would have the authority to divert resources from the current budget to facilitate such an embassy move.

The funds would be earmarked to help finance the relocation or launch of a new embassy, or transfer the ambassador's residence to Jerusalem; locate and designate suitable real estate; help the Jerusalem Municipality, local authorities and relevant bodies make the proper accommodations; and provide cooperation and other aid to the relevant country in accordance with the circumstances. A steering committee headed by Foreign Ministry Director-General Yuval Rotem will decide how the aid packages are allocated among the countries.

'The most important objective'

Ever since US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in May 2018, only Guatemala has joined the Americans in relocating their embassy to the city. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has raised the embassy issue in various diplomatic gatherings with foreign leaders, as has Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely on visits to numerous European countries.

Speaking to Israel Hayom Katz said, "There is nothing more expressive of our return to Zion and the success of Zionism than strengthening the sovereignty of Israel and the Jewish people in Jerusalem. Bolstering Jerusalem's status in the world is the most important objective I've set for myself as foreign minister. Jerusalem was and always will be the beating heart of the Jewish nation."

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The unraveling of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal under US diplomatic pressure, Iran's downing of a US drone and its alleged role in the holding of oil tankers in the Gulf have driven up tensions and stirred war worries.

Katz told the Herzliya Conference 2019, an international security forum, that Iran might accidentally stumble out of what he termed the "gray zone" of contained confrontation.

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"It should be taken into account that mistaken calculations by the (Iranian) regime ... are liable to bring about a shift from the 'gray zone' to the 'red zone' – that is, a military conflagration," he said in a speech to the Herzliya Conference.

"We must be prepared for this, and thus the State of Israel continues to devote itself to building up its military might for the event that it will have to respond to escalation scenarios."

Israel has long threatened to take preemptive military action to deny Iran the means of making nuclear weapons. Tehran says it has no such designs. One of its senior lawmakers warned on Monday that Israel would be destroyed within "only half an hour" should the United States attack Iran.

Earlier on Tuesday, Katz predicted that what he described as the US-led "economic war" on Iran would succeed despite the misgivings of other world powers.

"Iran has no chance in this war," he told Army Radio. "Therefore there is an opportunity there, through tough economic pressure and comprehensive sanctions, to prevent war, to achieve the objectives without war."

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While in the United Arab Emirates, Katz met with a senior UAE official and UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

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Israel and the UAE do not have formal diplomatic relations, but the two have developed increasingly close ties over shared concerns about Iran.

Katz says in a statement he was representing "the interests of the State of Israel before the Gulf Arab states."

Visits by senior Israeli officials to Gulf states are rare, but growing in frequency. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Oman last year, but Katz's visit was the first to the Gulf since last week's Mideast peace conference in Bahrain.

The Foreign Ministry said that Katz's meeting with the senior UAE official focused on "regional issues and relations between the countries," and also addressed "the need to deal with the Iranian threat related to the nuclear issue, missile development, Iran's support for terrorism in the region and the violence employed by Iran against the interests of the region."

The visit came as the International Atomic Energy Agency announced on Monday that Iran exceeded the uranium enrichment limit under the 2015 nuclear deal.

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