JERUSALEM

Israel will soon appoint a military attache to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, according to an Israeli diplomat on Monday.

"Israel will appoint a military attache to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet in Bahrain," Eitan Naeh, Tel Aviv’s Ambassador in Manama, told Israeli Army Radio, adding that the move “will happen soon".

"There is no fixed date yet. I assume that by the summer we will have our staff full here, including the additional officials who will join the embassy,” he said.

On Feb. 3, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz visited the US Fifth Fleet stationed in Bahrain and met with its commander Brad Cooper and commanders from the Royal Bahraini Navy Force.

Talks dwelt on the protection of the international shipping routes in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.

Approximately two weeks later, the Israeli Navy participated in the International Maritime Exercise (IMX) in the Red Sea region and the territorial waters of Bahrain alongside fleets of about 60 countries and international organizations.

Bahrain is among the four Arab countries, along with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sudan and Morocco, that signed US-sponsored agreements to normalize their relations with Israel in 2020.

Bahrain's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdul Latif Al-Zayani, is currently in Israel alongside his counterparts from Egypt, the UAE, Morocco, Israel and the US to participate in a diplomatic summit.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara