A 40-strong Bahraini delegation arrived in Israel Tuesday for two days of talks on boosting economic cooperation and tourism after the two countries normalized relations in September.
The Gulf state of Bahrain followed the United Arab Emirates in signing up to a U.S.-brokered deal to establish full diplomatic relations with Israel, becoming the third and fourth Arab countries to do so.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdellatif al-Zayani in Israel
(Photo: GPO)
Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi had been due to visit Bahrain this week but the trip was canceled, diplomatic sources told AFP without elaborating.
The cancellation followed the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist blamed on the Israeli spy agency, Mossad.
Last month, Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdellatif al-Zayani held talks in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The latest delegation, led by Industry, Commerce and Tourism Minister Zayed bin Rashid al-Zayani, landed at Ben Gurion airport on Tuesday.
The delegation is scheduled to meet both Ashkenazi and Netanyahu on Wednesday.
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdellatif al-Zayani give joint statement in Jerusalem
(Photo: AFP)
The two states will also sign on Wednesday a memorandum of understanding that "includes the establishment of a bilateral forum to promote mutual tourism," an Israeli government statement said.
Tourism Minister Orit Farkash-Hacohen said that over the past two months, both countries had been working "hard to turn peace from an idea to a reality."
"The tourism MOU between the countries is an important step in that direction," she said in the statement.
Authorities did not indicate whether the delegation would visit the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, Islam's third-holiest site, located in Jerusalem.
Many Palestinians are hostile to Arab governments normalizing relations with Israel without a comprehensive peace deal and oppose such visits.
The Waqf, which manages Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem's Old City, cannot bar any Muslim from visiting them.