Tag Archive for Israel Bahrain

Palestinian official names the 5 Muslim countries seeking ties with Israel

Scrambling to minimize the importance of historic move by Arab states to align with Israel, Palestinian Social Affairs Minister says, “The attitude that there can be peace with the Arabs without peace with the Palestinians is an illusion.”

By LAHAV HARKOV, REUTERS

 

Israel is in talks with several Arab and Muslim countries to normalize ties, Palestinian Authority Social Affairs Minister Ahmed Majdalani told KAN Radio Thursday.

Oman, Sudan, Comoros, Djibouti and Mauritania are engaged in normalization discussions with Israel, he said.

L-R- Bahraini FM Abdullatif bin Rashid Alzayani, PM Benjamin Netanyhau, U.S. President Donald Trump and Emirati FM Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the White House signing ceremony – Photo: AFP

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said five more countries plan to establish diplomatic relations with Israel soon, following the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Continue Reading »

Three Gulf States reach out to Israeli hospital to fight coronavirus together

Open cooperation between Israel the Gulf states in fighting the COVID-19 came to fruition as years of closer and public ties with Israel have become more commonplace.

By LAHAV HARKOV

 

Three Gulf states have reached out to Israel in recent weeks to receive information and assistance in the fight against the novel coronavirus disease known as COVID-19. The three make up half of the countries that are members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Bahrain and another Gulf state reached out to Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, expressing interest in the hospital’s response to the pandemic, and the United Arab Emirates’ ambassador to the United Nations said publicly that her government would be willing to work with Israel on a vaccine. Continue Reading »

Israel’s Foreign Minister and Bahraini counterpart meet in Washington

The publicly scheduled meeting in Washington with Israel’s Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz and Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifaand was hosted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

By Nitsan Keidar

 

Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz, who is visiting Washington, held a first public meeting with Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa.

The public meeting and a joint photo of the two were coordinated behind the scenes by US State Department officials as part of a conference on religious freedom in Washington hosted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz in Abu Dhabi.

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Bahrain Officially Invites Israel’s Economy Minister to Startup Conference

This latest invitation by Bahrain follows other Gulf visits such as Israel’s PM Netanyahu’s trip to Oman, Israel’s Culture Minister Miri Regev and then last week Communications Minister Ayoub Kara, both to Abu Dhabi.

By Arutz Sheva Staff, AFP

 

Yedioth Ahronoth reports that Economy Minister Eli Cohen (Kulanu) was invited by the Arab nation of Bahrain to participate in its “Startup Nations Ministerial” conference.

Senior government officials from all over the world are expected to attend the conference to identify new policy tools that will boost technology initiatives between the two countries.

Bahrain- Google maps

The invitation comes amid a diplomatic push by Israel in the mainly Sunni Gulf, which Israel sees as an ally against Shiite power Iran. Continue Reading »

Bahraini Official: ‘We will be first Gulf state to establish ties with Israel’

Growing closer to a historical event? “Bahrain does not view Israel as an enemy,” proclaimed the official in an interview with an Israeli daily, adding that normalization with Israel “will not contradict the principles of Bahrain.”

By Ellie Hochenberg

 

Ahead of an extraordinary official visit by an Israeli delegation to Bahrain later this month, an official from the Kingdom told i24NEWS that Bahrain will be the first Gulf state to establish diplomatic relations with Israel.

“Bahrain does not view Israel as an enemy,” the official, who asked not to be named, told i24NEWS on Tuesday, adding that rapprochement between the two nations “will not contradict the principles of Bahrain.” Continue Reading »

After Gulf visit, US rabbi predicts Israel-Bahrain diplomatic ties in two years

Rabbi Marc Schneier, a flamboyant New York religious leader & head of the inter-faith Foundation for Ethnic Understanding predicts “diplomatic relations between Israel and the Gulf [States] within 2 years.”
– The Rabbi also praised Qatar’s ‘dynamic’ leadership for reaching out to Israel, after Qatari diplomat revealed he secretly visited Israel 20 times since 2014.

By i24NEWS

 

Muslim-majority Persian Gulf kingdoms are waiting for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make a “bold and courageous” gesture to kick off the process of forging diplomatic ties with Israel, a prominent US rabbi told i24NEWS on Wednesday, fresh from a visit to Bahrain. Continue Reading »

Arab Leader Decries Palestinian Manipulation of Jerusalem Amid Real Regional Threats

In another blow to Palestinian leadership’s narrative, Bahrain’s FM says Palestinians fight over Jerusalem is another of their ‘side issues’ that’s distracting real threats to the Arab world.

By Israel Today Staff

 

The Foreign Minister of Bahrain on Wednesday suggested that who controls Jerusalem is little more than a “side issue” that shouldn’t be derailing the international community, and especially the Arab world, from focusing on more pertinent issues.

If US President Donald Trump’s Jerusalem declaration was a major win for Israel, then getting the bulk of the international community to publicly oppose that move has been a comparable victory for the Palestinians. Continue Reading »

Bahrain King decrees visits to Israel permissible, denounces Arab boycott

The king of the Persian Gulf state, which does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, announced to Rabbi Abraham Cooper, head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, that his subjects are now free to visit the Jewish state, then went further by calling for the end of the Arab boycott of Israel.

By TOM TUGEND

 

LOS ANGELES – Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa last week denounced the Arab boycott of Israel and said his subjects are free to visit the Jewish state. The head of the Persian Gulf country, which does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, made the statements to Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, at a multi-denominational event at the center to sign and support a declaration denouncing religious hatred and violence. Continue Reading »

Bahrain’s Foreign Minister: “Rest in peace President Shimon Peres.”

 

Not for the 1st time, the Bahraini foreign minister posted a surprising comment devoid of unreserved criticism for the Jewish State in wake of Peres’s death: ‘Peres was a man of peace & war.’
– Iraqi Kurds erect mourning tent: ‘Peres assisted the Kurds.’

By Roi Kais

 

Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa paid his respects to former President Shimon Peres who passed away overnight Tuesday after suffering a stroke two weeks ago.

shimon-peres

“Rest in peace President Shimon Peres, a man of war and a man of the still elusive peace in the Middle East,” Al Khalifa wrote on his Twitter account. Continue Reading »

Bahraini princess chooses Israeli hospital over American to save her life

 

According to Deputy Minister Ayoub Kara, the unnamed Bahraini princess believed that Israel offered the best chances for her full recuperation.

By Hillel Fendel

 

A princess from the Islamic country of Bahrain chose to receive life-saving treatment in Israel – and as a result, years later, Deputy Minister for Regional Cooperation Ayoub Kara has now been invited to pay a diplomatic visit to the kingdom.

Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa  (file) – Reuters

Kara, a Likud MK of the Druze community, told Arutz Sheva Tuesday that he cannot name the princess, nor when she came to Israel. However, other sources stated it occurred in Haifa’s Rambam Hospital in 2010.
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