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Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced Thursday that he has publicly met with his Bahraini counterpart during a visit to Washington, the first meeting between the two countries that do not have diplomatic relations.
"Yesterday I met publicly with Bahrain's Foreign Minister," said Katz in a tweet: Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa.
Referring to Benjamin Netanyahu, Katz added, "I will continue to work with (the Israeli Prime Minister) to advance relations between Israel and the Gulf countries."
Israel has diplomatic relations only with two Arab countries – Egypt and Jordan – but common concerns over Iran have brought them closer to the Gulf countries in recent years. years.
On a photo accompanying the tweet, the two foreign ministers appear side by side with a smile.
Yesterday, I met publicly with the Bahraini Foreign Minister @khalidalkhalifa the @statedept Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion
Another example of our growing diplomatic relations
I will continue to work with @IsraeliPM advance relations between Israel and the Gulf countries pic.twitter.com/EElPlWbwiZ– Israel Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) July 18, 2019
According to a statement from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, "the meeting was held behind the scenes by the US State Department as part of a conference on religious liberty organized in Washington by the secretary of state." US State Mike Pompeo ".
The two men "addressed the subject of Iran and regional threats as well as cooperation among states and agreed to continue …", he added.
The Arab Gulf countries have increasingly found a common cause with Israel because of their common hostility towards Iran. Tehran is accused of wanting to expand its influence in the region and seek to acquire nuclear weapons.
Last month, Bahrain convened a conference to discuss what the United States has described as the economic part of President Donald Trump's "Pact of the Century," his proposal to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The meeting comes at a time of increasing tension in the Gulf region between the United States and Iran, which has been slapped with numerous sanctions by the Trump government.
On Thursday, the US military shot down an Iranian drone that was within 1,000 meters of one of its ships in the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump announced.
Last week, a British warship in the Gulf warned the armed Iranian ships that attempted to arrest a British supertanker. Since then, London has announced the deployment of two more warships in the Gulf region over the next few months.
The largest US naval base in the Middle East is located in Bahrain.
SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
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