On the back of the US Middle East ‘Peace to Prosperity’ conference, Bahrain’s Foreign Minister, Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, surprised reporters on Wednesday by unequivocally affirming Israel’s right to exist and defend itself, in spite of there not being any diplomatic relations between both countries.
Al Khalifa said to the Times of Israel: “Israel is a country in the region… and it’s there to stay, of course”.
He compared the Manama workshop to Egyptian President Sadat’s state visit to Israel in 1977 which paved the way to the Camp David Accords in 1978 and lasting peace between Egypt and Israel.
Khalifa fell short of committing to regularise official diplomatic ties with Israel but did say “we want better relations with it, and we want peace with it”. He added that “Israel is part of this heritage of this whole region, historically. So, the Jewish people have a place amongst us”.
The Foreign Minister indicated that the 2002 ‘Arab Peace Initiative’ is the blueprint for normalizing ties with Israel and described Israel’s rejection of the plan as a “missed opportunity”. He hoped Israel would approach Arab leaders and explain its issues with the Saudi-backed framework.
Concerning the current peace-plan being proposed by President Trump he said: “We have to wait. I cannot talk about something that I don’t know. But we hope that this political plan will also be attractive to everybody”. Nevertheless, when asked about Israel’s assault on Iranian apparatus in Syria in an interview, Khalifa responded “every country has a right to defend itself”.
During the two-day conference in the island-country in the Persian Gulf, Bahraini diplomat, former ambassador to United States, and first ever Jewish ambassador of any Middle Eastern Arab country Houda Nonoo, accompanied a Jewish delegation including Israeli journalists and businessmen to visit Bahrain’s only synagogue after being granted special permission by Bahraini authorities.
In Baghdad, around two hundred Iraqi protestors stormed the Bahraini embassy courtyard to remonstrate against the US-led Manama peace conference aimed at solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In response, Bahrain said on Thursday that it has recalled its envoy.
