Protests in Bahrain over opening of Israeli embassy

MANAMA: Anti-Israel protests broke out in Bahrain on Friday, a day after Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid’s visit to open the Jewish state’s first embassy in the country.

Police fired tear gas during one rally as scattered, small-scale protests took place around the tiny Gulf state. Protesters marched waving Palestinian and Bahraini flags, chanting “Death to Israel” and “No to the Israeli embassy in Islamic Bahrain”. No arrests were reported. Lapid’s visit on Thursday came a year after Bahrain normalised ties with Israel, breaking with decades of Arab consensus that there should be no relations without a resolution to the Palestinian question.

The United Arab Emirates, Sudan and Morocco also established relations in a series of US-brokered agreements known as the Abraham Accords. “His Majesty’s leadership and inspiration have led to true cooperation and our meeting outlined the path forward for our relationship,” Lapid had said on Twitter after landing in Bahrain.

“Our opportunities are shared. Our threats are also shared, and they aren’t far from here,” Lapid said in remarks to reporters, apparently alluding to Gulf power Iran. Touring the Bahrain headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, which has faced off Iranian vessels amid tensions over Tehran’s regional aims, Lapid said: “Our three countries work together because we have similar interests in the region.”

“When we speak about peace, we need to remember that peace must be protected from those who would harm it,” he added, according to his office. The Fleet said on Twitter that Lapid and his hosts discussed regional maritime security cooperation.

The kingdom accuses Iran of stoking unrest in Bahrain, a charge that Tehran denies. The island state, which quashed an uprising led mostly by Shi’ite Muslim members of its population in 2011, saw some sporadic acts of protest after the Abraham Accords were signed.

The accords have been denounced by Palestinians as abandoning a unified position under which Arab states would make peace only if Israel gave up occupied land. In Gaza, the Hamas group criticised Bahrain for hosting Lapid, who returns to Israel on Thursday evening. Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said this represented “an encouragement” of what he described as Israeli “crimes against our people”.

Lapid’s office said he and his Bahraini counterpart signed deals on cooperation in medicine, healthcare, sports, and on water and environmental conservation. Lapid also inaugurated Israel’s embassy in Manama. Separately, the first Gulf Air commercial flight touched down in Tel Aviv, launching a twice-weekly direct connection.