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.

Gantz travelled to Morocco late last year, after the North African kingdom agreed to establish full ties with Israel in another US-brokered pact.

During that visit, the countries signed an agreement that is set to make it easier for Morocco to purchase products from Israel's defence industry.

Related Links
The Military Industrial Complex at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

UN expert to identify source of Myanmar junta weapons
Geneva (AFP) Feb 1, 2022
The UN expert on rights in Myanmar announced Tuesday he is preparing to release a report exposing where the country's "criminal" ruling junta have been getting their weapons from. Exactly one year on from the February 1, 2021 military coup, Tom Andrews said the junta was inflicting a widespread campaign of terror on the country's people - and seemed to be getting away with it. The United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar urged the international community to step up and cut o ... read more