Bennett will maintain talks with Bahraini Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa on bilateral ties.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has arrived in Bahrain’s capital Manama within the highest-level go to for the reason that nations established relations beneath a 2020 US-sponsored deal based mostly partially on shared worries about Iran.
Bennett will meet with Bahraini Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, his workplace mentioned earlier than he landed within the Gulf state on Monday.
“The leaders will talk about extra methods to strengthen bilateral ties … particularly the development of diplomatic and financial points, with an emphasis on know-how and innovation,” it mentioned in an announcement.
The 2-day journey to Bahrain, house to the US Navy’s Gulf headquarters, comes amid heightened tensions after missile assaults on the neighbouring United Arab Emirates by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Israel additionally normalised ties with the UAE in 2020.
Talking to reporters earlier than takeoff, Bennett mentioned he hoped the go to could be a “message of goodwill … and a shared stance towards frequent threats”.
Bettering ties
Israel has stepped up cooperation with the Gulf states. Manama hosted Israel’s defence minister on February 2 and has mentioned an Israeli army officer will probably be posted in Bahrain as a part of a world coalition.
The outreach by Bahrain’s monarch, a Sunni Muslim, has been criticised by an opposition led by the Shia majority. The nation has seen protests in solidarity with the Palestinians.
There have been temporary protests in a number of Shia villages forward of Bennett’s go to, activists advised the Reuters information company.
Footage and images posted on Bahrain’s dissolved opposition group al-Wefaq’s social media accounts confirmed dozens of protesters marching, chanting slogans and holding up Bahraini flags.
Israel has provided to cooperate with its new Gulf companions on air defence, however has not specified whether or not this may embody promoting the short-range rocket interceptor Iron Dome.
Such gross sales prior to now have been topic to questions of whether or not the techniques could be safe and never be shared with Israel’s enemies. There has additionally been concern it might pose a industrial problem to US defence exports.
However a US official noticed no downside in Washington have been Israel to go forward with Iron Dome gross sales within the Gulf.
“There’s a number of curiosity in Iron Dome” within the area, mentioned the official, who couldn’t be recognized by title.