Israeli foreign minister in Bahrain for official talks
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Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani receiving his Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen upon his arrival in Manama on Sept 3.
PHOTO: AFP
Manama – Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen arrived in Bahrain on Sunday for talks with senior officials, state media reported, in his first visit to one of the Gulf Arab states with ties to Israel.
Mr Cohen was accompanied by a political and commercial delegation, and is scheduled to meet Bahrain’s King as well as his counterpart in Manama during the two-day trip.
It is his first official visit to one of the signatories of the 2020 US-brokered Abraham Accords
Mr Cohen’s trip comes less than two weeks before the third anniversary of the accords in mid-September.
Despite now having steady ties, Bahrain and the UAE have joined other Gulf Arab states in issuing a series of condemnations against Israel
The storming of the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem
Mr Cohen’s trip coincides with growing speculation about an impeding normalisation deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which is not a signatory to the Abraham Accords.
Riyadh and Washington have held talks on Saudi conditions for progress on normalisation, according to people briefed on the meetings.
Israeli press commentators suggested such efforts have been severely compromised on the back of Israel’s announcement of a meeting in August between Mr Cohen and his then Libyan counterpart in Rome.
The announcement sparked protests in Libya, which does not recognise Israel, and led to the dismissal of Ms Najla al-Mangoush as foreign minister.
Israel later denied that it had been the source of the announcement. AFP
