MANAMA: Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz landed in Bahrain on Wednesday, the latest high-profile diplomatic trip since the countries normalised ties, the Gulf country said.

“The defence minister, Lieutenant General Abdullah bin Hassan al-Nuaimi, received Mr Benny Gantz, the minister of defence of the State of Israel, upon his arrival at Bahrain International Airport,” the Bahraini Defence Ministry said.

Gantz, who is the first Israeli defence minister to ever officially visit the Gulf country, travelled with several top military and security officials, including navy chief Admiral David Saar Salama.

“The aircraft carrying the delegation is the first IAF (Israeli Air Force) plane to land in Bahrain,” the Israeli defence ministry said in a statement.

“Throughout the visit, the minister is expected to conduct meetings with high ranking officials in the Bahraini defence establishment and with the Kingdom’s leadership,” it added.

The visit comes less than two years after the Gulf country forged diplomatic ties with Israel, becoming the fourth Arab nation to do so following close ally the United Arab Emirates, as well as Egypt and Jordan.

Last year Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid made the first ministerial visit to Bahrain, where he inaugurated an embassy in Manama.

The normalisation between Bahrain and Israel was one of a series of US-brokered agreements known as the Abraham Accords.

The deals angered the Palestinians, and broke with decades of Arab League consensus against recognising Israel until it signs a peace agreement establishing a Palestinian state with a capital in east Jerusalem.

The accords were negotiated by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu, who said they would offer Israel new regional allies against Iran and bolster its diplomatic efforts to stop Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

It was not immediately clear if international talks on Iran’s nuclear programme would be discussed during Gantz’s visit.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2022