Israeli, Bahraini premiers meet for first time since normalisation of ties

On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, met Bahraini Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa for the first time since the two countries normalised their ties last year.

The “historic” meeting took place in Glasgow, Scotland, on the sidelines of the ongoing UN Climate Change conference, or COP26, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

No further details were included in the statement, but the official Bahrain News Agency said the Crown Prince highlighted Bahrain’s “commitment to upholding regional peace, development and stability.”

He noted the importance of “building upon the progress made, following the signing of the Declaration of Peace, and further strengthening bilateral ties and cooperation.”

The report said that the two leaders discussed topics of mutual interest and areas of cooperation, including preserving the environment and promoting clean energy.

The Bahraini leader outlined the country’s “comprehensive” climate change response, including its intention to achieve net zero emissions by 2060.

On 30 September, Israeli Foreign Minister, Yair Lapid, made the first official visit to the Kingdom to inaugurate the Israeli Embassy in the capital, Manama.

Tel Aviv and Manama inked a normalisation deal during a ceremony held at the White House on 15 September, 2020.

Besides Bahrain, Israel also established diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, Sudan and Morocco in 2020.

READ: Normalisation is the latest project to eradicate the Palestinian cause