Isaac Herzog, who has traveled to Bahrain for the first time, was welcomed by the country’s foreign minister at Manama airport on Sunday. An industrial and commercial delegation accompanied him on this trip. Before the trip, Herzog called it “another historic step in the relations between the Arabs and Israel” and considered its purpose above all to be a “message of peace in the region”.
“I am here with a distinguished delegation of people who lead the business sector in Israel, who are eager to engage and do business with the people of Bahrain,” Herzog said in a meeting with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain.
Herzog also pointed to the signing of the Abraham Accords with several Arab countries and expressed hope that more countries will join the normalization process. While the streets of Manama saw people protesting, condemning and opposing this trip, King Hamad expressed hope that this visit will boost bilateral relations.
Hopes for reviving the failed project
Herzog’s visit to Bahrain is aimed at shoring up economic, political, and security partnership with the Persian Gulf Arab monarchies for other Arab countries to be lured into normalization. Tel Aviv leaders are trying to make more friends in the region by dragging the Arab countries into normalization and cornering the Palestinians. But so far, a majority of Islamic countries refused to accept this humiliation even despite the pressures of the US.
Qatar World Cup, an event in which the Muslims did a great job by showing advocacy and support to the Palestinians and humiliating the Israelis, carried the message to the Tel Aviv leaders that their optimism about normalization with the Muslim world is a mirage.
The Israelis tried to show their presence in Qatar for the World Cup as a sign of their acceptance by the Arab world, but they got the opposite result, and not only were the Israeli citizens not welcomed, but also they were further humiliated, to the extent that Israeli officials and media described it as isolation in the world.
Therefore, Al Khalifa hosting of president of an occupying regime was a stain of dishonor that would never be cleared. This warm reception came at a time even non-Muslim countries were protesting the Israeli crimes and their anti-Israeli votes in the UN are expressive of this fact. In other words, the more non-Muslims move to support Palestine, the more Arab compromisers move away from the Palestinian cause.
Sheikh Isa Qassim’s strong-toned warning
Despite Al-Khalifa’s efforts to strengthen its relations with the Israeli regime, the Bahraini society, especially the Shiites, strongly oppose ties between Manama and Tel Aviv. Sheikh Isa Qassim, the top Shiite leader of Bahrain, who is aware of the main intentions of the Israelis in Bahrain, has always warned about this issue. This time, too, he called Herzog’s trip a danger to the Bahraini society.
In a Twitter post, the exiled cleric said: “The normalization of relations with the Zionist regime is treason, and the contamination of Bahrain’s soil by the sinister steps of the head of this regime is a disgrace our nation does not tolerate.... Our graceful nation’s words and actions are no to contamination of this land of faith and dignity by the Israeli president, because he is a malicious enemy.”
Sheikh Qassim has recently called on the Muslim nations to step up their enmity to the Israeli regime that targets all the values, interests, and existence of the Muslims. He had earlier addressed the Bahrainis, telling them that the Israelis are trying to Judaize Bahrain by buying land in this country, and described selling land to the Israelis as selling the country and the nation. The Judaization of Bahrain is a continuation of the same scenario that happened a century ago in Palestine, where the Jews established a fake state by buying lands from the Palestinians.
Bahrain’s Shiite leader’s warnings come while Al-Khalifa, in order to win favor with the Israelis, established the ‘Jewish Minority Association of the [Persian] Gulf’, which is the first official Jewish organization in Bahrain, aimed at creating Jewish communities in the Persian Gulf to facilitate their domination of Arab countries.
In addition to the Shiite leaders, the Bahrainis demonstrated against Herzog’s visit and expansion of partnership with Tel Aviv. Thousands in Manama streets chanted “go out of our country”, “death with Israel”, “Isaac Herzog get out”, “down with Israel”, “Israel is a terrorist”, and “down with America.” They also torched the Israeli flag and posters of the Israeli president. Various Bahraini groups issues statements, condemning the visit and holding that it is meant to provoke the feelings of the Arabs, Muslims, and Christians across the world and is expressive of Israeli isolation. They also warned the Israeli regime of the consequences, asserting that Bahraini people in their history of struggle “would never accept the Zionists and consider them their enemies.”
Penetrating Bahrain’s security layers
Over the past two years, top Israeli officials have repeatedly visited Manama to boost their ties with Bahrain at all levels. In February, Tel Aviv signed a defense pact with Manama, with Neftali Bennett being the first Israeli prime minister to visit the tiny Persian Gulf monarchy. Also, in recent months, the Israelis announced their readiness to sell defense systems to the Arab monarchies. Tel Aviv intends to penetrate the security and military layers of these countries by developing its relations with the Arab monarchies and align them with its regional policies. The claim of defending the security of these countries by selling defense and missile systems is made for the same intention. Actually, the Israelis have put their hands the on Arab states’ weak point, which is their security.
Devoid of legitimacy among its people and finding its government pillars shaky, the Al Khalifa regime tries to, in addition to the Americans, involve the Israelis in its security for longer rule on the strength of new friends. When the Bahraini rulers signed the normalization, they thought that by signing this agreement, which is described by the opposition a document of their dishonor, they can settle their economic problems by capitalizing on the Israeli need for the thaw. But not so long later, they found out that their dream cannot come true and they make no profits from this pact. Although Bahrain has no weight in forming the regional developments and is a puppet regime for the Saudis and Americans, its strategic position and closeness to Iranian borders give it importance in the eyes of the Israelis.
Stationing of a security officer in Manama to establish continuous communication with the Fifth US Fleet in Bahrain, as well as pushing for renting a port on the coast of Bahrain for the deployment of Israeli navy, is done with the aim of closely monitoring Iranian movements. Attempts were also made to form an anti-Iranian coalition with the participation of all Arabs to push against Iran’s influence in the region, but they have gone nowhere so far.
Although the Israeli leaders regard Bahrain and the UAE the
starting point in a normalization journey with the Arab world, they are
setting their heart on countries incapable of benefiting them.
Bahrain’s monarchy that cannot persuade its own people cannot persuade
Arab countries to join normalization.
/129