Defense Minister Benny Gantz paid a visit Thursday to the U.S. Central Command’s Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain, as part of his surprise visit to the Gulf state.
Bahrain hosts the Fifth Fleet's headquarters — situated less than 200 kilometers off the coast of Iran — as well as some operations for the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), a U.S. military coordination umbrella organization for the Middle East that Israel joined last year.
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Defense Minister Benny Gantz arriving at CENTCOM's Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain
(Photo: Twitter)
Gantz's arrival at the base comes days before the start of a major 60-nation U.S.-led Middle East naval exercise in which Israel will take a symbolic part for the first time.
"I have just completed a very significant visit to the Fifth Fleet, along with Israeli Navy Commander David Saar Salama, and U.S. Navy Commander Admiral Brad Cooper," said Gantz.
"In the past year, thanks in part to the 'Abraham Accords’ and CENTCOM’s absorption of Israel into its purview, cooperation between the IDF and the Fifth Fleet has been strengthening, as is the cooperation between our defense establishments.
This is a first-rate strategic security need in the face of growing challenges in the maritime arena in particular and in the region in general."
The defense minister further stressed Israel’s commitment to regional stability amid heightened tensions in the Gulf after repeated missile attacks on the United Arab Emirates by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement.
“Against a backdrop of increasing maritime and aerial threats, our ironclad cooperation is more important than ever. We reaffirmed our commitment to stand united in defense of the sovereignty of our regional partners as well as peace and stability in the region,” Gantz wrote on his Twitter page shortly after the visit.
Gantz is also expected to sign a memorandum of understanding regarding military and defense cooperation between Israel and Bahrain on Thursday, the first of its kind Jerusalem signs with one of its allies in the Gulf.