The Bahrain–Israel normalization agreement, officially Abraham Accords: Declaration of Peace, Cooperation, and Constructive Diplomatic and Friendly Relations, is an agreement to normalize diplomatic and other relations between Bahrain and Israel. The agreement was announced by President Donald Trump on September 11, 2020, and followed on from a joint statement, officially referred to as the Abraham Accords, by the United States, Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on August 13, 2020. It was formally signed on September 15, 2020, at the White House in Washington, D.C., and made Bahrain the fourth Arab state to recognize Israel and the second within a month.
Background
In 2005, Bahrain abandoned its boycott of Israel, in exchange for a free trade agreement with the United States.
On May 20–21, 2017, in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, a summit of 55 Muslim countries and the U.S. discussed ways of rooting out global terrorism. King Salman of Saudi Arabia and the leaders of the Sunni countries, including Bahrain, discussed Iran's growing influence and activities in the Middle East. Israel was not invited to the summit.
In September 2017, the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, denounced the Arab League boycott of Israel, saying that the kingdom's citizens were entitled to visit Israel, even though the two countries had no diplomatic relations, in a speech to Rabbi Marvin Hier, the president of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.
On May 8, 2018, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain publicly welcomed and supported the U.S. withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal, citing Iran's destabilizing activities in the Middle East. Israel also supported the U.S. withdrawal. Pressure from Iran's growing influence and involvement in the region has led to Bahrain's support for the Israeli stance against Iran and brought the countries closer. During the May 2018 Israel–Iran incident in Syria, Bahrain's Foreign Minister expressed support for Israel's "right to defend itself".
On February 13–14, 2019, both Bahrain and Israel participated in a security conference in Warsaw, Poland, where Iran's growing influence was discussed. Subsequently, relationships between Israel and the Gulf countries grew stronger. On June 25–26, 2019, Bahrain hosted the "Peace to Prosperity" workshop in Manama, where the Trump administration presented the economic part of the Trump peace plan. The Palestinian Authority rejected the plan and boycotted the workshop while Israel was not invited, although Israeli journalists were allowed to cover the proceedings. In July 2019, Foreign Minister of Bahrain, Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, and his Israeli counterpart, Israel Katz, met in the United States. In October 2019, an Israeli official, Dana Benvenisti-Gabay, attended the "Working Group on Maritime and Aviation Security" in Manama, Bahrain. In December 2019, Jerusalem chief rabbi, Shlomo Amar, visited Bahrain for an interfaith event.
On August 13, 2020, President Trump announced that the UAE and Israel were to normalize relations under the Israel–United Arab Emirates peace agreement. Bahrain praised the agreement proclaiming it would contribute to regional stability and peace. Furthermore, as a sign of growing cooperation between the sides, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia permitted overflights of planes from and to Israel, as a sign of support for the deal.
Arab states, while still backing Palestinian rights, are increasingly willing to seek a variety of relationships with Israel. The "piecemeal" approach of the Trump administration makes the best of the inability to secure a resolution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, vying instead to normalize relations between Israel and the rest of the Arab countries.
On August 26, 2020, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa told visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that his country is committed to the creation of a Palestinian state and dismissed Washington's push for Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel. However, on September 11, 2020, it was announced that Bahrain and Israel had agreed to establish full diplomatic relations. Remarking on the date of the announcement, U.S. President Donald Trump said, “There's no more powerful response to the hatred that spawned 9/11.”
Agreement
The two states agreed to establish diplomatic relations, which is the first step for Bahrain to fully normalize its ties with Israel, and although signifying a circumspect Bahraini acceptance of the legitimacy of Israel, HM King Hamad stressed "the need to reach a just and comprehensive peace as a strategic option, in accordance with the two-state solution and relevant resolutions of international legitimacy." Trump said that the two states will exchange ambassadors and open embassies in each country and begin work on cooperation in technology, health, and agriculture, among other areas. The agreement also allows for the establishment of flights between Tel Aviv and Manama. A signing ceremony for the agreement was held in the White House on September 15, 2020. The declaration recognizes each state's sovereignty and states that the two countries have agreed to seek agreements in the future regarding embassies and other topics. The agreement was supplemented by an additional declaration between Israel and Bahrain signed on October 18, 2020, which provided for the establishment of diplomatic relations and their conduct according to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.