Jerusalem – Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog intends to carry out the first visit to Bahrain since the normalization of relations between Tel Aviv and Manama about two years ago, indicating today, Thursday, that the visit will be within a Gulf tour.
Israel has normalized diplomatic relations with Bahrain and the UAE about two years ago under American sponsorship of peace agreements that became known as the Abraham agreements and their consequences of Morocco, which resumed relations after years of diplomatic break. Sudan also joined them, but it did not sign an official peace agreement.
Bahrain has already hosted an Israeli prime minister earlier this year when Naftali Bennett visited the two -day Manama, highlighting the increase in the Israeli presence in the Gulf amid tensions with Iran.
The presidency in Israel is very honorable, but Herzog plays a more important role in the absence of a stable government for several years.
Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued the parliamentary elections earlier this month in the fifth elections in Israel in less than four years, but it has not yet formed a government.
Herzog will make an official visit to Bahrain at the invitation of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, according to his office and he will travel to the Emirates, where he will meet with President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Israel and Bahrain are negotiating with a free trade agreement that they hope to complete by the end of the year.
Last February, Bahrain announced that an Israeli officer was attached to the Kingdom, as part of an international coalition to protect navigation in the Gulf.
Foreign and Israeli media, especially reports, reported that an officer from Israel was sent to Manama to hold an official position in the Kingdom, which holds normal relations with the Hebrew state.
The Bahraini Foreign Ministry said at the time that the presence of the Israeli officer comes within the framework of arrangements related to an international alliance, which includes more than thirty -four countries and secures freedom of navigation in the territorial waters of the region, protecting international trade and confronting piracy and terrorism in the region.
About a week before the Israeli officer joined his position in Bahrain, Tel Aviv and Manama signed an agreement for security cooperation and was the first agreement of its kind, during the visit of the Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz to the Kingdom.
Manama is hosting the headquarters of the American Fifth Fleet, in addition to some operations of the US Central Command (Centcom), which is an umbrella for military coordination in the Middle East, which Israel joined last year.
Iran’s movements in the region raises concern in Bahrain and Israel alongside other Gulf states..
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