Israel, Bahrain ink framework agreement for cooperation

JERUSALEM

Israel and Bahrain on Monday signed a framework agreement for cooperation on the sidelines of a six-party summit held in the southern city of Negev.

The summit, which concluded earlier Monday, brought together the foreign ministers of Israel, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, Morocco, and the United States.

A statement issued by the Israeli Foreign Ministry said the cooperation agreement, which was signed in the presence of the summit's participants, will be supervised by the foreign ministries of both countries.

The Bahraini Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al-Zayani discussed with his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid ways to develop bilateral cooperation as well as the latest political and security developments in the Middle East.

In 2020, Bahrain, the UAE, Sudan, and Morocco signed US-sponsored agreements to normalize relations with Israel, in a move decried by the Palestinians as a “betrayal” of their cause.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara