Plans being finalized for dramatic 1st visit by Netanyahu and Rivlin to Bahrain and UAE
After a week of reporting from the United Arab Emirates, I am now in Bahrain, covering the rapidly warming relations between Israel and these Gulf countries since the signing of the Abraham Accords on Sept. 15.
Today, I can report that Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa spoke by telephone with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin.
Officially, Rivlin called to congratulate the Bahraini monarch ahead of “National Day,” marking the 49th year of the Gulf country’s independence from the British empire. Celebrations begin here on Wednesday and go through Thursday, with all national offices and most work places closed.
However, ALL ARAB NEWS can report that based on conversations with Israeli, U.S. and Gulf Arab sources, plans are being arranged for a dramatic first state visit by senior Israeli leaders to Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
Rivlin has been invited to visit Bahrain, and has invited Bahraini leaders to visit Jerusalem. The same is true with the UAE.
Netanyahu has also been invited to visit both countries.
It is not yet clear whether both Rivlin and Netanyahu would travel together, or whether the trips will be separate.
ALL ARAB NEWS can report that Netanyahu has requested that none of his Cabinet ministers travel to either Gulf country prior to his own visit.
I would not rule out a December visit by at least Netanyahu or Rivlin, but January is also a possibility.
National Day in the UAE was Dec. 2.
Bahrain’s National Day commemorates the day that the first emir — King Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa — ascended to the throne in 1961. Independence was formally gained from the British on Aug. 15, 1961.
These holidays slowed down the planning somewhat.
It will be a huge story in the region for either or both Israeli leaders to make their first state visits to the Gulf states.
🇲🇦 Morocco
— Israel Advocacy Movement (@israel_advocacy) December 13, 2020
🇧🇭 Bahrain
🇯🇴 Jordan
🇪🇬 Egypt
🇸🇩 Sudan
🇦🇪 UAE
🇴🇲 Oman?
🇮🇩 Indonesia?
At this rate by 2021 there’ll only be Jeremy Corbyn and Rashida Tlaib left to make peace with Israel 😂🥰
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Jews are receiving a warm welcome in the United Arab Emirates, US Deputy Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Ellie Cohanim said Monday. She recently spoke to members of the local community and Jews and Israelis who have come from all over the world to Dubai. “When you work on combating antisemitism you spend so much time fighting the darkness and this is all about shining the light and it is a model society for the region and the world,” she says.
“The amount of coexistence you see in the Emirates and the religious pluralism and tolerance you see walking the streets of the UAE is profound. The warm welcome Jews are receiving here is incredible and a historic moment for all of us to observe.” This is a sentiment many have echoed over the last two weeks as Jews and Israelis have been welcomed in the UAE in the wake of the Abraham Accords. Cohanim’s trip to the UAE was a long time coming during a difficult year with COVID travel restrictions. As part of the office led by Elan Carr, the Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism, Cohanim focuses on antisemitism in the Middle East, North Africa and Latin America.
She is well-placed for this work because her family was forced to flee Iran after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. She speaks with passion about the changes that are happening now in the region and which have led to a new opening and tolerance for Jews. She met with Rabbi Elie Abadie who recently moved to Dubai to serve as the community’s rabbi. Abadie, who was born in Beirut, is a scholar and expert who is an example of the international aspect of the Jewish community of the UAE.
In contrast to Bahrain where there has been an organized Jewish community since 1860, much of the Jewish life and embrace of Hanukkah celebrations in the UAE is new. She also met Ross Kriel of the Jewish Community of the Emirates and Rabbi Levi Duchman of the Jewish Community of the UAE, the leading heads of the Jewish communities there.