Israel, Bahrain foreign ministers hold first public meeting

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz and his Bahraini counterpart Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifah have held an official meeting during a visit to the United States, the first ever public meeting of this kind between Tel Aviv and Manama.

News ID: 446034

Date: 19 July 2019 - 22:52

RNA - "Yesterday I met publicly with the foreign minister of Bahrain," Katz said in a tweet on Thursday.

Katz added that he "will continue to work with the Israeli prime minister to advance Israel's relations" with the Persian Gulf countries.

Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab countries that maintain official diplomatic relations with Israel. However, in the past years, some other Arab governments have become interested in getting closer to Tel Aviv amid common concerns over Iran.

Also in Katz's tweet, there was a picture of the two foreign ministers showing them standing side by side while smiling.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday that the meeting was "coordinated behind the scenes by the US State Department as part of a conference on religious liberty organized in Washington by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo."

The subject of Iran and regional threats as well as cooperation between states were among the top issues discussed in the agenda, the Israeli statement added.

Yesterday I met publicly with the Foreign Minister of Bahrain