Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett departed Monday on a historic visit to Bahrain at the invitation of Bahraini Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa.
This is the first visit by an Israeli Prime Minister to Bahrain.
“This is a moving event,” Bennett said prior to his departure from Ben Gurion International Airport.
During his visit, Bennett will meet with Bahraini Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa. The two leaders first met at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) held this past November in Glasgow, where the Crown Prince invited the Prime Minister to make his first official visit to Bahrain.
“I think that in this tumultuous period, it is doubly important that from our region should come a message of cooperation, goodwill, standing together in the face of threats and building bridges to peace,” the prime minister said.
The leaders will discuss additional ways to strengthen bilateral ties, in addition to discussing “the importance of peace, advancement and prosperity in the region, and especially the advancement of diplomatic and economic issues, with an emphasis on technology and innovation,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.
Bennett is also scheduled to meet with the Ministers of Finance, Industry and Transport of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and with representatives of the local Jewish community.
The visit follows a similar trip by the Israeli prime minister to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this past December, the first official visit to the UAE by an Israeli head of state.
Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the architect and signatory of the Abraham Accords with the UAE, did not have a chance to visit the UAE.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz paid an official to Bahrain earlier this month, where he signed a security cooperation agreement with the country.
The United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain shortly after it, announced in August 2020 the normalization of relations with Israel. The agreements were signed on the White House lawns on September 15, 2020.
Sudan was next to announce the normalization of relations with Israel in October 2020, Israel’s third peace treaty in two months.
Morocco was the fourth country to join the Abraham Accords with Israel. The two countries announced the normalization of relations in December 2020.
The Abraham Accords, the first pact between an Arab country and Israel in 25 years, is expected to lead to similar agreements with other Arab countries, possibly Oman or Saudi Arabia.
TPS contributed to this report.
