JERUSALEM  - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he planned to pay a three-hour visit next week to the United Arab Emirates and perhaps to Bahrain, two countries that established formal ties with Israel last year.

Asked in a news briefing whether he would go ahead with a UAE visit next week despite the health crisis in Israel, Netanyahu said in remarks streamed live on his Twitter page: "We postponed the visit ... twice because of (coronavirus) lockdowns.

"It has great security, national and international importance, but it has been shortened, at my request, from three days to three hours."

Netanyahu said he would travel to Abu Dhabi and would also "possibly make a lightning visit to Bahrain" during the brief trip.

He did not give a specific date but Israeli media reports said he would make the trip on Feb. 9.

 

(Reporting by Jeffrey Heller Editing by Gareth Jones) ((jeffrey.heller@thomsonreuters.com; +97226322202;))