A senior Israeli diplomat expressed concern at Abraham Accords states’ improving relations with Iran this week.
Foreign Ministry Political Director Aliza Bin Noun expressed concerns about Bahrain reestablishing relations with Iran during a visit to Manama this week, a diplomatic source said.
In addition, she inquired as to why the volume of visits to Israel from Bahrain has been lower than it was in the first year after the two countries established diplomatic relations in 2020.
Bahraini officials assured Bin Noun that ties with Iran will not negatively impact relations with Israel and promised there would be more visits, the diplomatic source said.
Bin Noun tweeted after her visit that she had “a productive exchange with Dr. Sheikh Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Foreign Affairs Ministry Undersecretary for Political Affairs, about enhancing Israel & Bahrain ties. Israel is committed to developing our cooperation with Bahrain in the spirit of the Abraham Accords.”
The Foreign Ministry denied that those were the topics of discussion in Bahrain and said that they do not give information on diplomatic conversations. Bin-Noun’s meetings were about “bilateral and regional matters,” the Foreign Ministry said.
Reestablishing ties across the region
Bahrain is likely to resume diplomatic ties with Iran in the near future, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf said in the US House of Representatives last week. Bahrain cut ties with Iran in 2016, after an attack on the Saudi Embassy in Tehran, but Saudi Arabia – with whom Israel hopes to establish relations – has restored relations with Iran.
The United Arab Emirates, the first country to announce normalization with Israel in the framework of the Abraham Accords in 2020, has also taken steps to improve relations with Iran, with Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian meeting with the UAE’s President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Thursday.
Morocco, which also announced restored ties with Israel in 2020, called off the Negev Forum Summit of foreign ministers from the United States, Israel and Arab nations, which was postponed indefinitely due to expedited settlement activity.
The key forum of the US, Israel and the Arab states with which Israel has relations - Egypt, the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco, though not Jordan - was established by the previous Israeli government with a foreign ministers’ meeting in Sde Boker in March 2022 to translate the promise of the Abraham Accords into action.
Morocco, which had planned to host the meeting, canceled it after the government voted on Sunday to expedite the procedure to approve construction in Judea and Samaria, such that only an initial approval would be needed from the higher echelons. The vote was followed by an announcement of 4,560 housing units in settlements.