A senior official in the Bahraini Foreign Ministry said that Israeli intelligence is active in his country, according to The Times of Israel.
The announcement was made public by Sheikh Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Undersecretary of the Bahraini Foreign Ministry for Political Affairs, during the Munich Security Conference in a discussion with Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz.
The Bahraini official said: “There is intelligence cooperation between Bahrain and Israel. The Mossad is present in Bahrain and in the region.”
Al Khalifa added: “If this security cooperation between Bahrain and Israel will mean more stability and security, so be it, and if it will mean saving innocent lives, so be it. That is why the visits of the Mossad chief to Bahrain were announced through the Bahrain News Agency.”
And Al Khalifa added: “The Mossad chief was received by his Bahraini counterpart, and therefore we believe that security and intelligence cooperation is part of the ongoing partnership between Bahrain and Israel, and this matter will continue.”
And last week, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met the Bahraini King, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, on the first official visit by an Israeli prime minister to the country.
Several days ago, the Bahraini government confirmed press reports that an Israeli army officer will work officially and permanently in the Gulf kingdom, to be the first official appointment of an Israeli officer to an Arab country.
The Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, in a statement, that the annexation of the Israeli officer to the kingdom comes within the framework of an international coalition aimed at securing freedom of navigation in the territorial waters of the region.
This comes following Bahrain, Israel and the United Arab Emirates signed a US-brokered agreement to normalize relations in 2020.
picture released, ISRAELI GOVERNMENT PRESS OFFICE/HANDOUT/ANADOLU AG
The Israeli Prime Minister made his first visit to Bahrain since the signing of the Abraham Accords
The statement stated that the appointment will be linked to the work of an unnamed international coalition that includes more than 34 countries.
Bahrain also said that the coalition’s mission includes securing freedom of navigation in the region’s territorial waters, protecting international trade and confronting piracy and terrorism.
This announcement came following an unprecedented development of military relations between Israel and the Gulf states, which included holding military maneuvers in which forces from Bahrain and the UAE participated alongside Israeli and American soldiers.
On Thursday, February 10, The Times of Israel newspaper reported on Channel 13 that Israel would “send a naval officer to be stationed in Bahrain.” The site added that the move was agreed upon during Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s visit to the Gulf.
Gantz, who arrived in Bahrain on Wednesday, February 2, made his first official visit to the Gulf kingdom, and signed a defense cooperation agreement with his Bahraini counterpart, which formalizes the security relationship between the two countries.
The UAE and Bahrain signed the “Abraham Agreements” in September 2020, to normalize their relations with Israel.
Since then, diplomatic, military, and intelligence relations between Israel and the two Gulf states have been strengthened.
Tensions with Iran over its nuclear program are a common factor between the two Gulf states and Israel.
Israel strongly opposes resuming the 2015 agreement related to Iran’s nuclear file, and has repeatedly warned that lifting sanctions on Iran would give it more money to buy weapons to use once morest the Israelis.
Dore Gold, head of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, said Israel and Bahrain had pushed for closer ties because they were “threatened by Iranian actions.”
Gold pointed to the unrest in Bahrain, which he blamed on Iranian-backed opposition groups, and the range of threats Israel says Iran poses, particularly its arming of the Lebanese group Hezbollah.