Yemen’s friendliness towards Netanyahu at summit blamed on ‘seating organizers’

“As in any international conference, the organizers are responsible for the mistakes in the seating arrangements,” Alyemany said, apparently disturbed by photos of him seated next to Netanyahu.

By World Israel News Staff

A humorous moment occurred during this week’s Warsaw Middle East conference on peace and security when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s microphone had a glitch.

Yemen’s Foreign Minister Khaled Alyemany, who was seated next to Netanyahu, loaned his microphone to the Israeli leader.

U.S. Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt described the incident in a tweet, saying:

“A lighthearted moment- @netanyahu microphone was not working so FM of Yemen loaned him his microphone. @Netanyahu joked about the new cooperation between Israel and Yemen. Step by step.”

Upon Netanyahu’s arrival at the table, he and Alyemany reportedly exchanged brief smiles.

Netanyahu’s main objective at the summit was to unite against the Iranian threat. As for his discussions with Arab leaders, he described the meetings as “historic,” saying there was a “solidarity and unity that I don’t remember in my lifetime,” signifying an “enormous change” in the Middle East.

Later, however, Alyemany denied the progress in Yemen’s relations with Israel.

“As in any international conference, the organizers are responsible for the mistakes in the seating arrangements,” he said, drawing heavy criticism as photographs of the two sitting together went viral both on social media and in the international press,” the Jerusalem Post reported.

He criticized what he said were “efforts to portray the situation differently based on political motivations.”