Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani on Wednesday received the credentials of Israeli Ambassador Shmuel Revel at the ministry’s headquarters in Manama, the state-run Bahrain News Agency reported.
“The foreign minister welcomed the ambassador, wishing him success in his diplomatic duties,” the article stated. “Dr. Al Zayani emphasized the importance of continuing efforts to support peace, security and stability in the region.”
Also present at the meeting were Khaled Yousef Al Jalahma, undersecretary for political affairs, and Salah Mohammed Shehab, chief of protocol at the Foreign Ministry.
Revel was the first head of Israel’s Trade Representation Office in Doha, Qatar.
Israel and Bahrain normalized relations in 2020 as part of the Abraham Accords reached under the first Trump administration, which also saw Jerusalem establish official relations with the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan.
Diplomatic relations between Jerusalem and the Gulf state faced temporary setbacks following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 and the subsequent war in Gaza.
Nearly a month after the massacre, it was reported that Bahrain recalled Ambassador Khaled Yousif Al Jalahma and halted economic relations with Israel. However, Jerusalem at the time denied the reports, saying that it had not received an “announcement or decision from the Bahraini government to recall the countries’ ambassadors.”
Bahrain’s prime minister, Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, in November 2023 became the first Arab leader to publicly condemn Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, calling it “barbaric.”
