Partnership Between Bahrain And Israel And the Shift in The Gulf Politics
By Rabbi
Marc Schneier
September
11, 2020
The
monumental announcement that Bahrain and Israel are establishing official
relations is exciting and gratifying, both from an international relations
perspective but also for me personally.
I have
enjoyed a close relationship with King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa of Bahrain for
more than a decade. We have had many conversations about Israel over the years
and he has shared his paramount interest in, and authentic desire to see, the
establishment of relations between his kingdom and Israel.
He has
always recognized that Israel and Bahrain have more in common than differences.
He holds Israel in high regard in terms of its technological prowess,
healthcare innovation and military strength. He has always seen establishing
relations as a win-win situation for both sides.
Today, that
vision has become a reality, which I know has made King Hamad very proud and
excited for what is to come from this partnership.
Moreover,
this recognition shows the king’s leadership in the region and his strong
vision for the future not only of the Gulf, but for the entire Middle East.
I was
honoured to be the first rabbi to visit the royal palace, when King Hamad
invited me in 2011. During our various conversations, as well as through the
actions of his government, he has consistently shown his support for Israel,
and his message has been echoed by others in his government.
In 2018,
for example, former Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa posted
a message on Twitter in support of Israel’s military operation to expose and
destroy Hezbollah’s cross-border tunnels into Israel. He wrote: “Is the digging
of tunnels by the organization (Hezbollah) not an open threat to the stability
of Lebanon? Who bears responsibility when the neighbouring countries take upon
themselves the task of getting rid of the danger that threatens them?”
A few weeks
later, he tweeted his support for Australia’s formal recognition of West
Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, saying: “Australia’s position does not hamper
the legitimate demands of the Palestinians, and first and foremost East
Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital. It also does not contradict the Arab
Peace Initiative.”
No Gulf
leader has expressed a public desire to establish relations with Israel more
than King Hamad and his government.
Between
2013 and 2015, King Hamad led the effort for the Gulf Cooperation Council to
designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. Following his success in doing
so he told me, during a meeting in his palace in Manama in 2016, that “our only
hope for a strong, moderate Arab voice is a strong Israel.”
In 2017,
after US President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,
King Hamad sent an interfaith mission from Bahrain to Israel. He was the first
leader from any Gulf state to do so.
In February
2018, after King Hamad invited me to bring a delegation from The Hampton
Synagogue in New York to Bahrain, we flew to the Kingdom and met government
officials and the leadership of the Jewish community. We met the former
ambassador of Bahrain to the US, Huda Nonoo; member of parliament Nancy
Khedouri; and community leader Michael Yadgar, who shared with us the country’s
rich history of supporting its Jewish community. We visited the synagogue in
Manama — the first in the Gulf — and the Jewish cemetery.
In 2019,
Bahrain hosted the White House’s Peace to Prosperity Workshop. While that was
exciting in its own right, perhaps more exciting was the fact that the Bahrain
government for the first time welcomed seven Israeli journalists to the
Kingdom.
I was
honoured to be asked to participate as part of Bahrain’s delegation and recall
sitting with then Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid, who has since moved on to a
new position, during the conference and asking him if he would consider giving
an interview to one of the Israeli journalists I had just spoken to. He
immediately said he would and that I should bring him over.
During that
historic interview, he said: “Israel is part of the heritage of this whole
region, historically. So, the Jewish people have a place among us.”
This new
partnership between Bahrain and Israel is one that we should all be excited
about and grateful for. We are seeing a shift in the Gulf as more states look
to normalize relations with Israel and I predict that a third will follow.
There is so
much potential for economic partnership and I am very excited to see where this
next chapter takes us.
----
Rabbi
Marc Schneier is the founder and president of The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding
and an adviser to many Gulf leaders.
Disclaimer:
Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily
reflect New age Islam's point-of-view
Original
Headline: Bahrain’s recognition of Israel reveals a vision for the future of
the region
Source: The Arab News
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-politics/partnership-between-bahrain-israel-shift/d/122840
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism