Bahrain Foreign Minister to leave for Israel to formalise ties

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Foreign Minister Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani will travel to Tel Aviv tomorrow in a landmark visit to formalise diplomatic ties with Israel.

It will be the first-ever official visit by a high-level Bahrain delegation to Israel.

Al Zayani will hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Bahrain and Israel agreed to establish formal ties after the US brokered a deal on September 15. The UAE and Sudan have also formalised diplomatic relations with Israel.

In September, Bahrain and the UAE also signed memoranda of understanding to regulate cooperation in areas including politics, agriculture, commerce, information technology and visas.

The visit comes to affirm Bahrain’s firm and permanent position towards supporting the peace process in the Middle East region, and to explore economic opportunities and bilateral agreements with Israel.

Israeli officials, quoted by Walla news site, said they are working to finalise an aviation agreement for direct flights between Tel Aviv and Manama by tomorrow so it can be signed at the meeting.

The officials are also expected to discuss opening embassies and exchanging ambassadors.

When the UAE announced it would normalise relations with Israel in August, it became the first Arab state to do so in more than 20 years — on September 15, the UAE and Bahrain will follow in the footsteps of Egypt and Jordan.

Prime Minister Netanyahu vowed that additional Arab countries will soon follow suit in “the normalisation that is being developed” with Israel.

On Sunday, the Israeli Cabinet voted unanimously to ratify the joint agreement on the establishment of diplomatic, peaceful and friendly relations with Bahrain, concluding a normalisation process that the two countries began roughly two months ago.
 The Bahraini government ratified the agreement several weeks ago. Last Tuesday, the Knesset approved Israel’s agreement on the establishment of diplomatic relations with Bahrain with an overwhelming majority.

Sixty-two lawmakers voted in favour, while 14 opposed the agreement. There were no abstentions. On October 18, at a solemn ceremony in Manama, Israel and Bahrain signed the joint communiqué, which is not legally a treaty but rather a “framework agreement.”