Bahrain, Oman discussing normalisation deals with Israel, US: reports

Israel and the US are in talks with Bahrain and Oman to persuade the two Gulf countries to sign normalisation deals similar to one reached between Israel and the UAE.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab Staff

16 August, 2020

The UAE's peace agreement with Israel has been widely condemned in the Arab world [Getty]

Israel and the United States are in talks with Bahrain and Oman in order to persuade them to enter into an agreement to normalise relations with Israel, similar to the one the Jewish state signed with the UAE last Thursday, the Haaretz reported on Sunday.

After the signing of the peace treaty with the UAE, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Oman, Bahrain, and Egypt for supporting the deal, while Israeli press speculated that Bahrain, Oman, and Sudan could sign peace deals with the country in the near future.

On Saturday, Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa congratulated UAE Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed on what he described as the UAE’s “historic” peace deal with Israel, the Bahraini official news agency reported.

The UAE said the peace deal stopped Israeli plans to annex portions of the West Bank, even though these had already been delayed. Netanyahu said the plans were only “temporarily suspended”.

An official Israeli delegation is due to visit the United Arab Emirates next week in order to discuss the details of the peace treaty and establish diplomatic relations.

Israel and the UAE are to discuss details of agreements on investment, agriculture, security, telecommunications, energy, healthcare, and cultural exchange among other topics, Haaretz reported.

In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Hend Al-Otaiba, the Director of Strategic Communication at the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the UAE was “keen to make progress” in the normalisation of relations with Israel.

She added that “informal relationships with Israel have grown” in the recent past “and the issue of formalising these interactions was always just a matter of time.”

Haaretz reavealed there were already “secret offices” representing Israeli interests in various Gulf countries.