Syrian and several regional media outlets reported on 8 July that Israel’s National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi met Syrian interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa in Abu Dhabi the previous day, calling the encounter a significant step in quiet contacts between the longtime adversaries. Within hours, Israeli publications and broadcasters that had relayed the story said the report was incorrect. They noted that flight schedules and pool photographs show Hanegbi in Washington, D.C., as part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s delegation for a White House meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on 8 July. Neither the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office nor the National Security Council has acknowledged any talks with Syrian officials. If confirmed, such a meeting would mark the highest-level contact between Jerusalem and Damascus in decades, but for now the claim remains unverified and is being treated in Israel as a case of mistaken or false reporting.