President Isaac Herzog became the first-ever Israeli leader to visit Bahrain over the weekend this weekend, while on an economic visit to the country.
On Sunday, President Herzog took part in an economic forum held at the Bahrain Economic Development Board, alongside the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain, HRH Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
President Isaac Herzog on his visit to Bahrain
At the start of the event, President Herzog said: “It is a great honour for us to be here. Your hospitality means so much to us and to our delegation. I am so happy to meet our counterparts. In this meeting, we will speak about how to raise and move forward and upgrade remarkably the economic relations between our nations.
Israel normalised relations with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in September 2020 under the landmark Abraham Accords deal overseen by Washington.
“As you said correctly, the Abraham Accords unleashed energy that existed underneath but had to be realised between the nations, and we truly feel in the family. We truly feel that we are meeting our cousins, our brothers and sisters.
“I bring a message of goodwill and congratulations from the people of Israel to the people of Bahrain, hoping to create more business contacts and other relations in all areas of life so we can show the entire region why peace is so important,” he continued.
President Isaac Herzog on his visit to Bahrain
The President was joined by an Israeli economic delegation, comprising of leading figures across the public and private sectors, such as Dr. Ron Tomer, President of the Manufacturers Association of Israel; Nili Shalev, CEO of the Israel Export Institute; Amiram Appelbaum, Chairman of the Israel Innovation Authority; and Amir Shani, Vice President of the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce.
During the event, a national plan by the Kingdom of Bahrain was presented together with national priorities, as well as Bahrain's history, economic outlook, post-COVID recovery policies, and future projects and challenges.
There were some reports of sporadic protests in Bahrain upon the Israeli leader's arrival, with some demonstrators allegedly chanting, “Death to Israel" and burning images of Herzog.
After Bahrain, President Herzog flew to Abu Dhabi, where he met with president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and attended
