Israeli PM Bennett with Bahrain king, crown prince

Photo’s source: www. twitter.com

On February 15t^th, 2022, Naftali BENETT, Israeli Prime Minister met Bahrain’s King Hamad Al KHALIFA during his first visit to the Gulf state.

The meeting with the King followed another with Bahraini Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al KHALIFA at the Royal palace where BENETT was received with full honors.

Prince Salman said he was happy to welcome Prime Minister BENETT.

“Not that we have ever had a war, but relations between our two countries were not at a level that could be construed as normal. And I think that if we see a wider Middle East that is free from conflict, that is based on principles of mutual respect, understanding, and sharing responsibility towards security, we must do more to get to know one another and build upon the Abraham Accords, which have been such an historic agreement” the crown prince said.

Prime Minister BENETT said: “I think our goal in this visit is to turn it from government-to-government to people-to-people peace and to convert it from ceremonies to substance“.

He spent the morning on Tuesday meeting Bahrain’s Jewish community leaders in Manama.

“I come from Israel with goodwill, with warm friendship between the two peoples, and I am sure you can be a remarkable bridge between Bahrain and Israel” he said.

“The cooperation between us is natural” he said, adding he expected the volume of trade and tourism to increase significantly. “Most importantly, I wish that the two peoples will get to know each other better: in delegation visits, joint cultural activities, etc. We want a very warm peace with Bahrain.”

Regarding the tensions in the Gulf, BENETT said Iran is the source of security concerns to both Israel and Bahrain. “We will fight Iran and its followers in the region night and day. We will aid our friends in strengthening peace, security and stability, whenever we are asked to do so” he said.

Bahrain is among four Arab countries that signed US-sponsored agreements to normalize relations with Israel in 2020. He visited the other Gulf state in the Abraham Accords, the United Arab Emirates, in December, 2021.

The first senior Israeli official of the current government to visit Bahrain was Yair LAPID, the Foreign Minister, who dedicated the Israeli Embassy in Manama September, 2021. Benny GANTZ the Defense Minister visited Manama two weeks ago and signed a security cooperation agreement with the kingdom.

This article was edited using the data from the Timesofisrael.com, Aljazeera.com, Arabnews.com, Timesofisrael.com, Aa.com.tr and, Xinhuanet.com