Bahrain Foreign Minister in Jerusalem: Sadat’s heirs revive their approach

It is the night of November 19, 1977. The plane of the late Egyptian president, Anwar Sadat, lands at “Ben Gurion Airport” in Tel Aviv. Right now, Israel is dated to what became known as the time of the “collapse of the psychological barrier” and to the day when the most centralized state at the heart of the Arab nation emerged from the united front against the Israeli enemy. What happened at that time was the objective pursued by the prime minister, Menachem Begin, as revealed by his secretary, Arieh Naor, in an interview with the daily “Yedioth Ahronoth” three years ago.

Exactly 43 years later, one of the inheritors of Sadat’s approach to the Arabian Peninsula arrived, Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abd al-Latif al-Zayani. The date of the visit was not in vain, as the latter said yesterday: “As you know… almost 43 years have passed since this day, November 19, 1977, the late Egyptian President Sadat visited Israel and planted the seeds of the regional peace that we are promoting today. . For this reason, I think it is appropriate that I make this visit very close to the anniversary, because I came here from a country convinced of the importance of peace ”.
On his first visit of its kind, Al-Zayani was accompanied by Bahrain’s Minister of Industry and Commerce, Zayed bin Rashid Al-Zayani, as well as a US delegation led by the White House Special Envoy for the Middle East, Avi Berkowitz. As for the purpose of the visit, it is about completing articles related to the areas of economic cooperation, tourism, security, health and education, which were signed in the “Abraham Agreement”. According to Al-Zayani, he informed Israel of his country’s approval of his request to open an embassy in Manama, and that the latter, in turn, is seeking permission to open an embassy in Tel Aviv, in addition to activating the e-visa system between Israel and Bahrain as of December 1. Where it works to “ensure 14 flights between Israel and Bahrain, and 5 cargo flights a week.” The two embassies are expected to open before the end of the year, Al-Zayani said during a joint appearance with his Israeli counterpart, Gabi Ashkenazi. It was also revealed that the latter would visit Manama next month to participate in a security conference.

Al-Zayani informed Israel of his country’s agreement with his request to open an embassy in Manama.

Later, in the one-day visit, a trilateral conference was held that brought together Zayani, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. During the conference, Netanyahu emphasized that “the relations between Israel and Bahrain extend for years before the signing of the Abraham Agreement”, adding that “the relations between Tel Aviv and Manama are based on solid foundations for joint cooperation.” He expressed his hope that “Israel and more countries will reach similar peace agreements,” considering that Al-Zayani’s visit marks “another achievement on the road to peace.” For his part, Minister Al-Bahrani took advantage of his visit to convene what he called “peace talks to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, returning to the negotiating table,” considering that his country’s “historic” decision to establishing “warm” relations with Israel “would help promote the dawn of peace in the Middle East.” .

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