Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdullatif Al-Zayani, is planning to visit Israel next week, Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi announced Tuesday.

The announcement coincided with the Israeli Knesset's approval yesterday of the normalization agreement with the Kingdom of Bahrain, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu considered "a tremendous lever for the economy"

Netanyahu said "We approved today in the Knesset the historic peace agreement between Israel and Bahrain. This peace agreement is a tremendous lever for our economy and will benefit all the Israeli citizens. Watch what will happen now thanks to the peace agreements we signed: Ships coming for the UAE continue to arrive in the port of Haifa." He added "Flights to India have become shorter and cheaper due to passing through Saudi Arabia. Thanks to peace, we will be able to get oil pipelines from the Gulf to Israel, and from there to Europe. This is a real vital revolution."

The visit is likely to take place next Thursday, November 19, and will be the first public visit to Israel by Abdullatif Al-Zayani, 66, who has previously served as Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council since 2011.

A series of agreements are expected to be signed in the field of foreign relations, aviation, visas, agriculture, economy, telecommunications, and others. Israel and Bahrain signed the "Declaration of Peace, Cooperation, diplomatic and Constructive Diplomatic and Friendly Relations" at the White House in a special ceremony, on September 15.

Arabic Version