Bahrain–Israel Normalization Agreement

Bahrain–Israel contacts predated the formal normalization process by decades. Accounts describe discreet contact beginning in the 1990s: Knesset member Yossi Sarid visited Bahrain, including its synagogue and cemetery, while working to establish a trade office in Oman. The office closed after the intifada began.[7] The two countries’ crown prince and Israeli officials held talks at World Economic Forum summits in 2000 and 2003; their foreign ministers met at the United Nations in 2007; and in 2009 a Bahraini delegation traveled to Israel to retrieve nationals held after the Israeli navy seized a ship bound for Gaza.[8]

Bahrain’s political signals were mixed. In 2004, it dropped its boycott of companies doing business with Israel in connection with a U.S. free-trade agreement. In October 2009, parliament passed a bill to outlaw contact with Israel, but the appointed consultative council rejected it. King Hamad denounced the Arab boycott in 2017 and encouraged Bahrainis to travel to Israel, although formal diplomatic relations had not yet been established.[7][8]

Public and official contacts continued in the years before the agreement. Bahrain’s foreign minister paid tribute to former Israeli president Shimon Peres in 2016; an Israeli delegation attended the FIFA Congress in Manama in 2017; and Bahrain’s foreign minister publicly supported Israel’s right to “defend itself” in 2018. In 2019, Bahrain hosted a U.S.-organized economic workshop, its foreign ministers met in Washington, and representatives of more than 60 countries, including Israel, attended a maritime-security meeting in Bahrain.[8]

Bahrain also hosted the U.S.-backed “Peace to Prosperity” meeting in Manama in June 2019, which focused on the economic component of the Trump administration’s Middle East peace plan. In April 2020, Bahraini authorities shut down an event organized by supporters of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement that was to discuss the risks of Gulf normalization with Israel.[7]

The immediate diplomatic opening came after the United Arab Emirates announced normalization with Israel in August 2020. Bahrain’s move formed part of incremental advances in Israel’s relations with some Gulf states since the turn of the century and was facilitated by the United States.[1] An account of the negotiations says Bahraini officials contacted U.S. representatives after the UAE announcement and expressed a desire to follow; senior officials then negotiated, with Jared Kushner visiting Manama to meet King Hamad and Crown Prince Salman. That account says Saudi approval was apparently a factor, but does not establish it as a formal condition.[7]

On September 11, 2020, Bahrain announced its intention to normalize relations with Israel. A joint statement by the United States, Bahrain, and Israel said that King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to establish full diplomatic relations, following a conversation hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump.[9][2] The statement presented direct dialogue and formal ties as a means of expanding regional stability, security, and prosperity.[9]

Four days later, Netanyahu and Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani joined Trump and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed at a White House signing ceremony. The bilateral Bahrain–Israel instrument was titled “Declaration of Peace, Cooperation, and Constructive Diplomatic and Friendly Relations”; Bahrain and Israel also endorsed the principles of the Abraham Accords.[3][10] The ceremony included a separate Abraham Accords declaration involving Bahrain, Israel, the UAE, and the United States, distinct from the bilateral Bahrain–Israel document.[7]

The September declaration stated that King Hamad and Netanyahu had agreed to open an era of friendship and cooperation. In Washington, Netanyahu and Al Zayani endorsed the Abraham Accords’ principles and agreed to establish full diplomatic relations, framing the development as a new chapter of peace.[3] The text called on the parties to recognize each state’s sovereignty and right to live in peace and security, promote lasting security, reject threats and the use of force, and advance coexistence and a culture of peace.[3]

The declaration set out areas for further agreements, including investment, tourism, direct flights, security, telecommunications, technology, energy, health care, culture, and the environment. It also called for reciprocal embassy openings and continued efforts toward “a just, comprehensive, and enduring resolution” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.[3] The document did not make a Palestinian agreement a stated precondition for establishing Israel–Bahrain diplomatic relations.[3]

At the ceremony, Al Zayani described the agreement as a first step and said a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict would be the foundation of lasting peace.[10] The declaration itself did not specify a two-state solution. Its text instead referred to continued efforts toward a just, comprehensive, and enduring resolution, while the September 11 announcement also referred to enabling the Palestinian people to realize their potential.[3][2]

The sources distinguish the September instrument from the October arrangements that followed. Bahrain signed a declaration of peace in September, while Israel and Bahrain signed a joint declaration establishing diplomatic relations and related memorandums about a month later.[4] An analysis of the September text describes it as brief and focused on bilateral matters such as aviation, trade, and taxation; it also notes that the declaration did not call for changes in access to Jerusalem’s holy sites. The analysis says the parties did not want to appear to negotiate on behalf of the Palestinians or usurp Jordan’s custodial role.[11]

On October 18, 2020, delegations from Bahrain, Israel, and the United States met in Manama. The following day, a joint statement announced that Bahrain and Israel had signed a communiqué establishing diplomatic, peaceful, and friendly relations, alongside memorandums of understanding on economic and trade cooperation, air services, agriculture, telecommunications and postal services, visas, financial services, foreign-ministry cooperation, and chambers of commerce.[12] Working groups also discussed possible cooperation in health care, port services, sports, and culture.[12]

Israeli National Security Council head Meir Ben-Shabbat and Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani signed the joint communiqué. The Israeli delegation also included Foreign Ministry director-general Alon Ushpiz. Reports differ in how they count the supporting memorandums and list their subjects: accounts include finance ministries, commerce, civil aviation, communications and postal services, information technology, agriculture, municipal affairs and urban planning, and foreign-ministry cooperation, as well as a separate chambers-of-commerce memorandum.[13][14]

The Manama meeting also produced arrangements to ease travel for diplomats and holders of service passports. The agreements covered economic cooperation and investment, civil aviation, finance, communications and postal services, agriculture, and cooperation between foreign ministries; a memorandum between the two countries’ chambers of commerce was also reported.[14][15] A November 2020 account said that during an official Bahraini delegation’s visit to Israel, the two countries agreed to open embassies, implement a visa system, and begin weekly commercial flights.[16]

The September declaration and October communiqué should not be treated as the same instrument. The September text was the White House declaration setting out the political commitment and intended areas of cooperation; the October communiqué and memorandums supplied further arrangements and were described as formally establishing diplomatic relations.[4][13] The October joint statement said the countries would expand cooperation in security, public diplomacy, economics, technology, coexistence, and people-to-people engagement.[12]

The Knesset approved the agreement with Bahrain on November 10, 2020, by a vote of 62 to 14, with no abstentions; all 14 opposing lawmakers were from the Joint List.[17] The communiqué then returned to the cabinet for ratification, which took place on November 15.[18] A Bahraini delegation of about 40 people visited Israel in December, and Bahrain’s industry, commerce, and tourism minister signed a tourism-cooperation memorandum. It provided for a joint committee led by the countries’ tourism ministers to promote cooperation among travel agents, airlines, tour operators, and other industry representatives.[7]

The first official Bahraini ministerial visit to Israel took place in November 2020, when Foreign Minister Al Zayani visited.[4] Bahrain announced in March 2021 that it would open an embassy in Israel, and its first ambassador, Khaled Yousef al-Jalahmah, arrived on August 31, 2021. Before arriving, he tweeted in Hebrew that realizing King Hamad’s vision of peaceful coexistence with all peoples was a privilege he would fulfill with great esteem.[4][7]

In September 2021, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid became the first Israeli cabinet member to visit Bahrain. On September 30, he opened Israel’s embassy in Manama; that same day, Gulf Air began direct flights between the countries.[4] At the accords’ first anniversary, the U.S. secretary of state also said that Israel had named its first ambassador to Bahrain and that Bahrain’s first ambassador to Israel had presented his credentials.[19]

The countries extended practical cooperation beyond diplomatic representation and air links. They mutually recognized digital COVID-19 vaccine passports, allowing visitors to use venues such as restaurants and concerts without quarantine.[19] In March 2021, Israel’s Mekorot and Bahrain’s national water company agreed to work on planning, consulting, and support for water-quality improvement, desalination, and more efficient water use.[20]

Security ties developed alongside the civilian relationship. In February 2022, Bahrain signed a security cooperation agreement with Israel.[21] A 2023 assessment described security cooperation as having advanced, citing visits by Israeli political and military officials and discussions with Bahraini leaders.[5] A separate account of 2022 developments describes a defense agreement signed during Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s visit, an agreement to station an Israel Defense Forces officer in Bahrain, and collaborative medical research between Bahrain’s government hospitals and Maccabi’s Kahn-Sagol-Maccabi research center.[7]

In 2022, Israel and Bahrain agreed to a 10-year “Joint Warm Peace Strategy” covering innovation, food and water security, sustainable energy, health care, education, trade, and investment.[7] Prime Minister Naftali Bennett visited Bahrain in February of that year, meeting the king, crown prince, cabinet ministers, and local Jewish community representatives.[7]

Israel held another official embassy-opening ceremony in Manama on September 4, 2023. During the ceremony, the two countries’ foreign ministers agreed to work to increase direct flights, tourism, trade, and investment.[7] These diplomatic and security advances did not produce equally rapid growth in commerce: bilateral trade totaled about $20 million in 2021–2022, excluding diamonds and services, and economic ties developed more slowly than security ties.[5]

Bahrain’s leadership had several interests in normalization, including stronger relations with the United States, security against the perceived Iranian threat, and economic benefits from ties with Israel.[4][5] Saudi Arabia’s approval was likely important to the agreement’s realization, while a separate account describes such approval as an apparent green light rather than a documented formal requirement.[4][7]

The September declaration linked bilateral normalization to broader regional peace and security but did not require a prior Israeli-Palestinian settlement. Bahrain’s king told U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Bahrain remained committed to the Saudi-sponsored Arab Peace Initiative, which the cited account describes as calling for Israel’s complete withdrawal from Palestinian territories captured in the 1967 war.[8] Bahrain’s foreign minister, meanwhile, publicly described a two-state solution as the foundation of lasting peace.[10]

The move prompted sharp criticism from Palestinian leaders. The Palestinian Authority condemned the announcement as a betrayal of Jerusalem and the Palestinian cause, argued that it undermined the Arab Peace Initiative, and recalled its ambassador from Bahrain for consultations; Hamas also denounced it.[6] Palestinian critics viewed normalization before an Israeli-Palestinian settlement as a departure from the previous policy of withholding relations pending progress toward Palestinian statehood.[8]

Bahraini officials defended a different sequence. King Hamad emphasized the importance of a comprehensive peace agreement with the Palestinians, while an adviser argued that normalization was the best way to secure Palestinian rights.[6] The agreement’s text affirmed ongoing efforts toward a just, comprehensive, and enduring resolution, but did not make such a resolution a prerequisite for diplomatic relations.[3] The disagreement therefore concerned not only the wording of the declaration but also whether establishing relations before a settlement would advance or weaken Palestinian aspirations.[8][6]

Reactions among Bahraini public organizations and opinion leaders were largely negative, including among both Sunni and Shiite groups.[4] A 2023 assessment reported that favorable Bahraini views of the accords were about 40 percent when they were signed in 2020 and that later polls showed support had fallen by half.[5] It also said that, as far as its authors knew, Bahrain had not been promised a concrete U.S. reward for joining; expectations instead included security cooperation over Iran and economic opportunities.[5]

Opposition remained visible after the agreement. Protests and Friday sermons criticized ties with Israel, including weekly demonstrations against normalization after the Hamas terrorist attack of October 7, 2023. The Anti-Normalization Society organized marches and called for boycotting companies that supported Israel and pro-Israeli events; anti-Israel demonstrations and rhetoric increased after the attack and Israel’s military response in Gaza.[22]

The conflict that followed the October 7 terrorist attack affected the relationship’s public reception and pace. Bahrain did not formally sever relations or withdraw from the Abraham Accords, although its ambassador did not return to Israel after the war began and the post was left vacant following his reassignment in April 2025.[7] Public opinion in participating countries became more hostile to Israel amid the conflict, but the accords continued to withstand the resulting diplomatic pressure.[23]

The normalization established a durable formal framework for bilateral relations, followed by reciprocal diplomatic representation, direct flights, and memorandums in fields ranging from agriculture and finance to tourism and communications.[4][12] Security arrangements also followed, including the February 2022 cooperation memorandum.[21] The practical record was uneven: diplomatic and security cooperation advanced, while trade remained modest and public support in Bahrain declined from its reported level at the time of signing.[5]

The September 2020 declaration called for lasting security, peaceful relations, and cooperation across a wide range of fields. It also referred to continuing efforts toward an Israeli-Palestinian resolution, while leaving the establishment of Bahrain–Israel relations independent of such a settlement.[3] That structure became central to both the agreement’s regional significance and the criticism it drew: supporters framed normalization as a way to widen regional cooperation, while Palestinian critics argued that it undermined the Arab Peace Initiative and proceeded in the absence of an Israeli-Palestinian settlement.[6]

In April 2025, Bahrain’s ambassador to Israel was reassigned and the post remained vacant without a named replacement. Bahrain had not formally closed its embassy or withdrawn from the Abraham Accords, and the account reporting the vacancy placed it amid regional tensions over the Gaza conflict.[7] Diplomatic contact nevertheless continued: on October 14, 2026, Israeli President Isaac Herzog met Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani in Baku to discuss bilateral ties, regional developments, and the role of the Abraham Accords.[7]

Descriptions of the process vary partly because sources refer to different stages and documents. The September 11 announcement concerned an understanding to establish full diplomatic relations; the September 15 White House instrument was titled a declaration of peace and cooperation; and the October 18 Manama communiqué and accompanying memorandums supplied further arrangements and were described as establishing diplomatic relations.[3][2][12] Calling all of these documents the same “agreement” can obscure the sequence.[4]

The date of the White House instrument is also reported inconsistently. The U.S. State Department document says it was announced on September 15, and the White House ceremony record is dated that day; a Congressional Research Service report describes Israel and Bahrain as having signed the declaration on September 16.[3][21] The difference concerns the date assigned to the signing, not the separate October Manama arrangements.[12]

Sources also differ in legal terminology. The U.S. government’s document says the parties agreed to establish full diplomatic relations and sets out commitments and future work.[3] The Jewish Virtual Library distinguishes the October communiqué from a peace treaty.[7] The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs argues that the September text was a non-binding, declaratory bilateral instrument expressing intent to negotiate more detailed normalization arrangements.[24] These are legal characterizations of the documents, distinct from their stated diplomatic commitments.

A related distinction concerns the Palestinian language in the two instruments. The September declaration explicitly called for continued efforts toward a just, comprehensive, and enduring resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; reporting on the October communiqué says that document itself did not mention the conflict, although a separate Bahraini government statement referred to continued efforts toward a resolution.[3][17] The documents therefore record a commitment to pursue a resolution without making it a stated condition for establishing relations.[3]