MANAMA: An Israeli delegation accompanied by the US treasury secretary arrived in Bahrain on Sun­day to formalise nascent re­la­tions and broaden Gulf cooperation that Wash­ing­ton has promoted as an anti-Iran bulwark and potential economic bonanza.

Bahrain followed the United Arab Emirates in agreeing last month to normalise ties with Israel, stunning Palestinians who had demanded statehood before any such regional rapprochement.

The breakthrough, overseen by US President Donald Trump, is a foreign policy flourish ahead of his re-election bid next month. For the US allies, it is a chance to close ranks on Iran more overtly.

The Israeli delegation, which flew on an El Al Israel Airlines charter flight from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, was accompanied by US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in public remarks to his cabinet, said the delegations would work on cooperation agreements and “establishing the peace treaty”.

Israel and Bahrain signed a “Declaration of Peace, Cooperation, and Construc­tive Diplomatic and Frien­dly Relations” at a White House ceremony on Sept 15, a document that fell short of a formal treaty.

At a ceremony with Mnuc­hin before take-off, US Mid­d­le East envoy Avi Berko­witz said that Israel and Bahrain would sign a joint communique “bringing forward tourism and banking and diplomatic relations”.

“I think the opportunity is way beyond just investm­ents,” Mnuchin told repor­ters on the El Al flight. “It’s in technology, building various different businesses - and in the case of Bahrain as well, really expanding the opp­ortunities for them quite, quite, quite dramatically.”

The Trump administration has been trying to secure more such deals for Israel ahead of the US election and Mnuchin said he hoped the process would continue regardless of who wins at the polls.

Israeli National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, speaking in Arabic at an arrival ceremony at Man­a­ma airport, said: “This is a great day ... We look forward, InshaAllah (God willing), to hosting you in Israel soon.”

Bahraini Foreign Minis­ter Abdullatif Al-Zayani described the engagement and cooperation as “the most effective, the most sustainable means to bring about a genuine and lasting peace, one which safegua­rds the rights of the Middle East peoples”.

The signing of the declaration, however, drew anger among Bahrainis at home and abroad. Bahrain, where a Sunni Muslim minority rules a Shia majority population, has said the deal protects its interests from Iran.

El Al Flight 973, a nod to Bahrain’s telephone code, flew over Saudi Arabia, an accommodation by the Gulf powerhouse that has so far resisted US appeals to normalise ties with Israel.

Mnuchin and the other US officials travel on Monday to the UAE, where the accord with Israel has uncorked bilateral commerce.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2020