Bahraini Ministers To Pay First Official Visit To Israel

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Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani (R) and the head of the Israeli delegation Meir Ben Shabbat, bump elbows after a signing ceremony in Bahrain’s capital Manama, on October 18, 2020. | Photo by AFP

Manama- Two Bahraini ministers are set to make the first official visit by ministers from the tiny island to Israel in order to attend a tripartite meeting with Israeli and US officials.

Israel’s Walla news site reported on Sunday that Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Alzayani and Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism Zayed Bin Rashid Al Zayani will pay a visit to Israel later this week.

They are expected to attend a meeting with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Jerusalem al-Quds on Wednesday.

Israel’s foreign minster Gabi Ashkenazi will also participate in the meeting.

According to Israeli sources, the parties are due to sign an aviation agreement for direct flights between Tel Aviv and Manama during the meeting.

They will also discuss opening embassies and exchanging ambassadors.

On September 11, US President Donald Trump announced that Bahrain was following the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in normalizing ties with Israel.

Four days later, Netanyahu signed agreements with Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani during an official ceremony hosted by Trump at the White House.

Palestinians, who seek an independent state in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital, have condemned the deals as a betrayal of their cause against the Israeli occupation.

Bahrain’s main opposition group, the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, has denounced the deal as an “ultimate betrayal of Islam and Arabs and a departure from the Islamic, Arab and national consensus.”

It has said the Israel-Bahrain agreement is void of any legitimacy whatsoever.

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