Israeli officials will travel to Bahrain for next month’s “peace” conference, where the first stage of the US’ “deal of the century” is set to be revealed.
Speaking to Israel’s Channel 13 yesterday, a senior Israeli official revealed that the US has invited Israeli delegates to attend the meeting, which is to be held in the Bahraini capital Manama on June 25-26.
Drop the cynicism. The Bahrain economic confab is a true sensation https://t.co/usch0FWhvo
— The Times of Israel (@TimesofIsrael) May 21, 2019
The Times of Israel reported:
“The official told the network the invitation was sent as a hardcopy, which is en route to Israel in diplomatic mail channels.”
The report added:
“Israel [is] expected to accept the invitation”.
Kahlon intends to attend US-Bahraini economic peace confab – The Times of Israel https://t.co/owoD139J8O Go Local https://t.co/kTmwqLE7wv pic.twitter.com/o8ytsYDs6d
— Washington DC oGoing (@DCoGoing) May 21, 2019
A separate report by the Israeli daily today noted that Israel’s Finance Minister, Moshe Kahlon, is among the Israeli delegates invited to attend. Kahlon’s spokesman, Omri Sheinfeld, said that while Kahlon has not yet received a formal invitation to the event, he expects one to arrive on his desk “in a matter of days”.
Bahrain vows support for Palestinians after economic ‘workshop’ announced https://t.co/Ovh7VP233k
— The Times of Israel (@TimesofIsrael) May 20, 2019
If Kahlon attends the summit, it will represent the first time a high profile Israeli official has visited the Gulf state.
The two countries do not hold formal diplomatic relations, with Bahrain adhering to the Saudi-led Arab Peace Initiative which calls for Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) as a precondition for normalizing relations.
However, in recent months Bahrain has pursued a number of normalization initiatives with Israel.
(Middle East Monitor, PC, Social Media)
