Israel’s Herzog holds rare meeting with Bahraini FM in Azerbaijan
On a visit to Azerbaijan, Israeli President Isaac Herzog met Wednesday with Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani. The two officials were attending the seventh summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Baku.
What happened: In a post on X, Herzog described the meeting as “excellent,” adding, “We discussed the friendship and ties between Israel and Bahrain, as well as the importance of the US-led Abraham Accords in strengthening security, stability, and prosperity in the Middle East.”
Herzog said they also discussed recent regional developments but provided no further details.
Background: Israel and Bahrain normalized relations in 2020 under the Abraham Accords, which also saw Israel establish diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan. Bahrain’s first ambassador to Israel arrived in August 2021, and Israel opened an embassy in Manama the following month. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was the first Israeli official to visit Bahrain in 2022.
Relations between the two countries have been strained since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and the ensuing war in Gaza.
Know more: In November 2023, Bahrain’s parliament announced that it was suspending trade ties with Israel and recalling the kingdom’s ambassador. The government in Manama, however, did not ratify the decision.
