Bahrain, Israel Discuss Defense Partnership

Manama, MINA – The Bahraini government on Monday (14/9) announced that it was considering to establish a defense partnership with Israel, following a controversial normalization agreement of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

According to the Bahrain News Agency (BNA), in a phone call, Bahrain’s Defense Minister Abdullah Al-Nuaimi and his Israeli counterpart Benny Gantz discussed “shared hopes of building a close partnership between the two defense ministries.”

According to the news agency, the partnership “will contribute to enhancing the capabilities of the two countries and maintaining regional security.”

Gantz offered to “host his Bahraini counterpart on an official visit to Israel, and they agreed to continue the dialogue together,” said BNA.

On Friday, Bahrain and Israel announced a US-brokered agreement to normalize their relationship, one month after a similar deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Bahrain became the fourth Arab country to have diplomatic relations with Israel, after Egypt in 1979, Jordan 1994 and the UAE in August 2020.

The normalization deal has drawn widespread criticism from Palestinians, who say it does not serve Palestinian interests and neglects Palestinian rights.

The Palestinian Authority says any agreement with Israel should be based on the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative on the principle of “land for peace” and not “peace for peace” as Israel claims. (T/R7/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)