Israel reaches defence deal with Bahrain in Gulf first

Israel signed a defence agreement with Bahrain on Thursday, its first such deal with a Gulf country since establishing diplomatic ties with Manama and Abu Dhabi more than a year ago. Defence Minister Benny Gantz, making his first visit to Bahrain, said the memorandum of understanding, that covers intelligence, procurement and joint training, takes the countries’ relationship to “new heights”. Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) normalised relations with Israel under the US-brokered Abraham Accords agreements in September 2020, breaking from decades of Arab consensus that ruled out ties …

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