JERUSALEM: Israel and Bahrain will open embassies soon, as the two countries look to broaden cooperation that Washington has promoted as an anti-Iran alliance and potential economic bonanza.
On a first official visit by Bahraini officials to Israel, the Gulf kingdom’s foreign minister, Abdullatif Al-Zayani, said his Israeli counterpart, Gabi Ashkenazi, would visit Manama in December.
“I was pleased to convey to Minister Ashkenazi the Kingdom of Bahrain’s formal request to open an embassy in Israel and to inform him that Israel’s reciprocal request for an embassy in Manama has been approved. This is a process which I hope can now move forward relatively quickly,” said Al-Zayani.
Askenazi, speaking at Israel’s foreign ministry with Al-Zayani, said he hoped the opening ceremonies would be held by the end of 2020.
Israeli and Bahrani officials signed several memoranda of understanding in October in Manama covering trade, air services, telecommunications, finance, banking and agriculture.
By the end of 2020 Bahraini citizens will be able to apply online for a visa to visit Israel, Ashkenazi said, and direct flights would start soon.
The Bahraini delegation traveled on Gulf Air flight GF972 – a reference to Israel’s telephone country code – on the airline’s first commercial flight to Tel Aviv.
President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Avi Berkowitz, was also on the flight, which flew over Saudi Arabia, accommodation by the Gulf’s powerhouse, which has so far resisted the US, appeals to normalize ties with Israel.
On October 19, Bahrain and Israel signed a joint communique to formalise diplomatic ties during a visit by an Israeli and United States delegation to Manama to broaden cooperation and potential economic boom.
Bahrain followed the United Arab Emirates in agreeing last month to normalise ties with Israel, stunning Palestinians who had demanded statehood before any such regional rapprochement.
The Israeli delegation, which flew on an El Al Israel Airlines charter flight from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, was accompanied by US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.
“It was indeed a historic visit, to start opening relations between both countries,” Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al-Zayani said after the signing ceremony with Israel’s Foreign Ministry director-general Alon Ushpiz and National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat.
Al-Zayani touched elbows with Ben-Shabbat, who described the step as a “promising beginning” and said the Israeli delegation was accepted “with open arms, with warmth and cordiality.”
Israel and Bahrain, host to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, signed a “Declaration of Peace, Cooperation, and Constructive Diplomatic and Friendly Relations” at a White House ceremony on Sept. 15, a document that fell short of a formal treaty.
The accord has drawn anger among Bahrainis at home and abroad. The government of Bahrain has said the deal protects its interests from Iran.
