This week Yisrael Katz met with Bahrain’s Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa at a U.S. State Department event.

By JNS

Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz and Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa met on Thursday in Washington, D.C.

“Yesterday I met publicly with the Foreign Minister of Bahrain @khalidalkhalifa at the [U.S. State Department’s] Ministerial on Religious Freedom Another example of our growing diplomatic connections I will continue to work with [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] to advance Israel’s relations with the Gulf countries,” tweeted Katz.

The “meeting was coordinated behind the scenes by the U.S. State Department as part of a conference on religious liberty organized in Washington by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,” according to an Israeli Foreign Ministry statement, which added that the two ministers “addressed the subject of Iran and regional threats, as well as cooperation between states.”

Israel and Bahrain do not have formal diplomatic relations, though the two states recently improved ties.

In June, Al-Khalifa told Israel’s Channel 13 on the sidelines during the June 25-26 “Peace to Prosperity Workshop” in the Bahraini capital of Manama, which jump-started the Trump administration’s Mideast peace plan: “Israel is part of the heritage of this whole region, historically, so the Jewish people have a place amongst us.”

He added, “That’s why it’s so important and we didn’t want to miss this opportunity, and I want to tell them we should talk.”

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Bahrain’s foreign minister gave an unprecedented interview to an Israeli television channel, calling for open communication with the Jewish state.

By World Israel News and AP

Bahrain’s Foreign Minister, Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, spoke to Israel’s Channel 13 on the sidelines of the Trump administration’s Mideast peace conference in Manama, Bahrain.

Al Khalifa said that “Israel is part of this heritage of this whole region, historically. So, the Jewish people have a place amongst us.”

The Bahraini foreign minister also voiced support for Israeli strikes against Iranian targets in neighboring Syria, saying “every country has a right to defend itself.”

He called Iran a “major threat to the stability and the security of the region,” and said Iran’s support for terror groups has hindered Arab-Israeli peace efforts.

Earlier in the day, thousands of Palestinians demonstrated outside a United Nations compound in the Gaza Strip to protest the White House-led Mideast peace conference in Bahrain, which is specifically designed to improve their economic plight.

The demonstrators gathered Wednesday, raising a black coffin that read “Bahrain conference to hell.”

Palestinians burned effigies of President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The protesters specifically called out Trump senior adviser, Jared Kushner, chanting “Kushner, Palestine is not for sale.”

Kushner is spearheading the $50 billion U.S. economic plan for the Palestinians, whose leaders have met the proposal with scorn.

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri also said his government is opposed to the Trump administration’s Mideast plan. Lebanese politics are heavily influenced by Iranian-controlled Lebanese terror proxy Hezbollah, which controls swaths of Lebanon’s government.

Hariri added he was against the naturalization of Palestinians living in Lebanon, most of whom have either been there for decades or were born there.

Lebanese officials have blasted the Trump administration’s $50 billion investment proposal that comes as part of a Middle East peace plan.

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