Abraham Accords: Bahrain suspends ties with Israel
Bahrain’s government confirmed that its ambassador to Israel had been asked to return
Bahrain, one of the signatories of the Abraham Accords has suspended ties with Israel. Manama confirmed that it recalled its ambassador from Israel, whose escalating operation in Gaza has posed a challenge for regional governments that have pursued closer ties with Israel, reported Reuters.
Following an earlier statement from Bahrain’s lower house of parliament, the government confirmed on Thursday that its ambassador was returning and that Israel’s ambassador in Manama had left “a while ago”.
Bahrain, Israel issue statements
Israel however had said that its ties with Bahrain “remain stable” as per a report by Reuters on Thursday.
Israel’s foreign ministry said in a statement, “We would like to clarify that no notification or decision has been received from the government of Bahrain and the government of Israel to return the countries’ ambassadors. Relations between Israel and Bahrain are stable.”
In its statement, Bahrain’s parliament said the moves “confirmed Bahrain’s historic position in support of the Palestinian cause”.
“The Council of Representatives affirms that the Israeli ambassador in the kingdom of Bahrain has left Bahrain and the kingdom of Bahrain has decided on the return of the Bahrain ambassador to Israel,” the parliament said in a statement.
2020 Abraham Accords
The historic Abraham Accords, signed on the White House lawn in September 2020, was a landmark moment, normalising diplomatic relations between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain, with Morocco and Sudan following suit.
The agreements have bolstered stronger ties between the signatory countries, offering all parties advantages in areas of economic cooperation, cultural exchanges and regional security cooperation.
Following the normalisation of ties with Bahrain and the UAE, Israel was in back-channel talks with Saudi Arabia before the outbreak of violence. The kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had in an interview said, that the two countries were “closer than ever” in the effort to normalising ties.
The recent crisis has halted all such efforts to normalise relations between the two countries as well as threatened current relations.
