MANAMA – Bahrain’s move to allow an Israeli delegation to attend a recentUNESCO conference may be seen as a sign of Manama’s drive to furtherdevelop ties with Tel Aviv.
The newspaper Haaretz has quoted a source in Washington as saying that tiesbetween Bahrain and Israel are getting warmer even though officialbilateral relations are not “around the corner.”
Jonathan Schanzer, of the Washington-based Foundation for the Defense ofDemocracies, a think tank, pointed out that “it makes a lot of sense forBahrain and Israel to increase their cooperation.”
Referring to both countries’ negative perception of Iran, Schanzer saidthat although Bahrain and Israel have yet to get ready for “totalnormalization”, the two countries “are testing the waters and the trend isvery clear.”
He described Bahrain as “a bellwether” for the United Arab Emirates (UAE)and Saudi Arabia, which, Schanzer recalled, also view Iran as their archfoe while perceiving Israel as their possible partner against Tehran.
“It seems sometimes like Saudi Arabia and the UAE are using Bahrain – whichis allied with them but is smaller and less influential – to do ‘trialballoons’ regarding foreign policy. It’s true with regard to the threecountries’ rivalry with their neighbor Qatar, and also with regard toIsrael,” he pointed out.
Schanzer’s remarks came after an Israeli delegation visited Bahrain for aninternational conference organized by UNESCO, an event that will befollowed by Bahrain hosting the upcoming 42nd session of the UN agency’sWorld Heritage Committee, where Israel’s representative will also be inattendance.
In May, Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa supportedIsrael’s strikes on Syria, twitting that Tel Aviv had a right to “defenditself.”
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced at the time that dozens ofmilitary targets belonging to the Iranian Quds Forces in Syria had been hitafter the Iranian forces allegedly fired 20 rockets at IDF positions inGolan Heights, a disputed area annexed by Israel as a result of the 1967Six Day War.
Tehran, however, denied those allegations, claiming that the attack wascarried out by Damascus.
While Iran doesn’t recognize the Jewish state’s right to exist, Tel Avivconsiders Tehran a threat to its security, citing concerns over the IslamicRepublic’s alleged development of nuclear weapons despite the 2015 Irandeal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
In addition to this, Israel is dissatisfied with Tehran’s support for Syriain its fight against terrorist groups. Tel Aviv has repeatedly said that itwould not allow Iran to turn Syria, which has been embroiled in a civil warsince 2011, into its client state, where it could gain a military foothold.