Normalizing ties with Israel will have ‘catastrophic effect’ on Bahrain’s national unity

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Bahrain’s highest religious authority, Sheikh Isa Qassim, condemned the planned participation of an Israeli delegation in Manama’s upcoming 2019 Global Entrepreneurship Congress.

Sheikh Qassim said on Tuesday that Manama’s gesture, which allowed Israeli nationals to take part in the April 15 conference, sets Bahrain on a “path of humiliation and surrender”.

More than 30 ‘registered delegates’ from Israel are expected in Manama later this month, prompting calls for a boycott of the event.

The conference is being organized at a time when a number of Arab monarchies in the Gulf, including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are cozying up to Israel against what they regard as a common Iranian threat.

For his part, Sheikh Qassim warned that efforts to normalize ties with Tel Aviv would have far reaching implications.

“Doesn’t the pro-normalization camp know that its normalization with the enemy has a catastrophic effect on the nation, its unity, its existence and everything holy in it, and that it fulfills Israel’s dream of fully controlling the land, the decision and the present and future of this nation?” the cleric’s statement reads.

Most Arab states do not have official diplomatic exchanges with Tel Aviv and have boycotted Israel over the years due to its continuing occupation of Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese territory.

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