Bahrain FM to arrive with first-ever delegation to Israel on Wednesday

US Special Representative for International Negotiations Avi Berkowitz will also be on the flight from Manama with a team of White House officials, mostly from the National Security Council.

By LAHAV HARKOV, OMRI NAHMIAS
The national flags of Bahrain, Israel and America, flutter in near the Israeli flag carrier El Al plane, October 18, 2020 (photo credit: REUTERS/RONEN ZEVULUN)
The national flags of Bahrain, Israel and America, flutter in near the Israeli flag carrier El Al plane, October 18, 2020
(photo credit: REUTERS/RONEN ZEVULUN)
Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani is set to visit Jerusalem on Wednesday, leading his country’s first delegation to Israel.
Al Zayani will arrive on the first-ever commercial flight between Manama and Tel Aviv, along with his deputy foreign minister, senior officials from several other government ministries and members of the Bahraini media.
He plans to meet Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and President Reuven Rivlin and to hold a trilateral meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
No further agreements between Israel and Bahrain are expected to be signed on the visit. Eight were signed when Israeli officials, led by National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, were in Manama last month.
A diplomatic source said the countries’ working groups have reached an advanced stage in drafting agreements on tourism, scientific research, technology and health.
Bahrain and Israel may sign a memorandum of understanding on direct flights between the countries during the visit.
US Special Representative for International Negotiations Avi Berkowitz will also be on the flight from Manama with a team of White House officials, mostly from the National Security Council.
“This is the first commercial flight from Bahrain to Israel,” Berkowitz said. “It’s the first of many. I look forward to tourists traveling back and forth with ease in the coming months and years.”
The White House team plans to encourage further cooperation between Israel and Bahrain in areas such as fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, agriculture and technology.
US officials hope that seeing the opportunities the ties between Israel and Bahrain have created will encourage more countries in the region to join the Abraham Accords and take steps toward resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict.

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In recent months, the United Arab Emirates declared peace with Israel, and Sudan said it would establish diplomatic relations.
On Tuesday, Rivlin and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed, the leader of the UAE, exchanged formal invitations to visit each other’s countries.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday voiced “deep concern” over Israel’s decision to invite contractor bids to build 1,257 new housing units in Jerusalem’s Givat Hamatos neighborhood and said it contravened international resolutions.
“The ministry affirms the Kingdom’s condemnation and rejection of the move, which contravenes international resolutions,” it said in a statement.
Reuters contributed to this report.


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