IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Aviv Kochavi arrived in Bahrain on Wednesday for an historic first visit to the kingdom as Israeli President Isaac Herzog was in Ankara to meet with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the first such trip by an Israeli leader since 2008.
Kochavi was welcomed by the Chief of Staff of the Bahraini Defense Force, H.E. Lieutenant General Theyab Bin Saqer Al-Noaimi, the IDF said in a tweet.
Kochavi subsequently met with Sheikh Nasser Ben Hemed al-Khalifa, Secretary General of the Supreme Security Council and National Security Adviser of Bahrain.
The Israeli chief of staff is also slated to meet with other senior Bahraini military leaders as well as with US Admiral Charles Brad Cooper, commander of the Fifth Fleet.
Health ‘Work Plan’ Signed
Israeli Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz was also in Bahrain to sign a health work plan agreement with Bahrain’s Health Minister, Faeqa Saeed Al-Saleh. He is also expected to visit the United Arab Emirates. The new cooperation memorandum follows a bilateral health agreement signed last month. It includes epidemic and emergency management, health education and research, information sharing, digital health, medical innovation and genetic research.
“We have a lot to learn from each other, and the collaboration we are launching today is a net gain for the research and health services of the residents of both countries.
“This is the meaning, and this is the tremendous power of peace and international cooperation. I thank Bahrain for the wonderful hospitality, we will continue to cultivate the important ties between the two peoples,” Horowitz said.
“After a number of meetings we held online, the meeting in Bahrain allows us to strengthen the relationship between the countries, through collaborations in the fields of health and medicine,” Al-Saleh said.
“We will strengthen ties through the adoption of training programs for students and medical staff, sharing knowledge and research, and the assistance of Israeli doctors in order to provide Bahrain residents with medical care in areas in short supply,” she said.
Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett visited the kingdom last month, shortly after Defense Minister Benny Gantz became the first Israeli defense minister to make an official visit to Bahrain.
