Leonid Altman / Shutterstock.com
Naftali Bennett, Israel’s Prime Minister, has travelled to Bahrain this week, making him the first Israeli leader to visit the country.
During the visit, Israel and Bahrain agreed to implement a bilateral 10-year plan called “The Joint Warm Peace Strategy” building on the landmark Abraham Accords signed in 2020. The strategy will prioritise areas of mutual interest, including trade, food and water security, sustainable energy, healthcare and education. The countries’ leaders also agreed to fast track the negotiations for the protection of investments and the joint work on a tax treaty. They will strengthen ties between the Israeli and Bahraini population through cultural exchanges and academic collaboration as well as starting direct flights between Israel and Bahrain from the Israeli airline Israir.
On Tuesday morning, Prime Minister Bennett travelled to the Royal Palace where he was met by the Bahraini military band who played ‘Hatikvah’, the national anthem of Israel. He was hosted by Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and the Crown Prince (who is also the Prime Minister) Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
After the meeting, the King was quoted as saying: “I consider it a historical day, to receive the Prime Minister of Israel. His visit to Bahrain will be a fruitful visit, a successful visit, because of his determination and leadership towards a joint, integrated effort for the best of the two peoples. I thank him for coming here”.
Prime Minister Bennett said he came “from Israel with a spirit of good will, of cooperation, of standing together amidst mutual challenges and I think our goal in this visit is to turn it from government-to-government to people-to-people peace and to convert it from ceremonies to substance”. In an interview with Bahrain’s Alayam newspaper, Prime Minister Bennett said that Israel wants “a very warm peace with Bahrain”.
The Crown Prince and Prime Minister said that “in order to see a broader Middle East free of conflicts, based on principles of mutual respect, understanding and shared responsibility for security, we must do more to get to know one another better and further establish the Abraham Accords, an important historic achievement”.
As part of the visit, the Prime Minister met with members of the Bahraini Jewish community, calling them the “bridge” between the two nations, before gifting them a shofar for their newly-renovated and reopened Synagogue.
