Israel to appoint military attaché in Bahrain soon

Israel’s Ambassador to Bahrain, Eitan Na’eh, revealed on Monday that a military attaché will be assigned to the embassy in Manama soon, Akka news website has reported. The office of the Israeli military attaché, Na’eh said, will be in the Headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain’s capital.

“The date has not been set,” he added, “but a full staff will be there, in addition to extra officials who will join the embassy.”

On 10 March, the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain hosted Israel’s Chief of the General Staff, Aviv Kochavi, who was on an official visit to Bahrain at the time. Kochavi discussed with US officials future opportunities for maritime security cooperation between the Israeli occupation forces and the US Navy.

The US Fifth Fleet’s area of operations covers approximately 2.5 million square miles. It includes the Arabian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, the Red Sea, parts of the Indian Ocean and three critical choke points: the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal and the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea.

Na’eh’s remarks coincided with a summit held in Israel that brought together the foreign ministers of four Arab countries along with their Israeli and US counterparts to discuss security cooperation and joint defence plans. The summit was described by Na’eh as: “Unbelievable. This is one of those events that we can and should call historical defining moments in the Middle East.”

The Palestinians condemned what they called the “summit of shame”.

READ: Israel, Bahrain ink framework agreement for cooperation