Dozens of people protested in Bahrain on Friday against the government's normalization of ties with Israel, according to footage that has surfaced online.
One video, verified by AFP correspondents in the Gulf region, shows demonstrators hoisting Bahraini and Palestinian flags in the Shiite populated village of Abu-Saiba, near the capital Manama.
The demonstrators shouted "Normalization is betrayal" as they walked through streets after Friday prayers, according to AFP..
Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday signed US-backed normalization deals with Israel at the White House.
Bahrain's interior minister said this week that normalizing ties with Israel protects Bahrain's interests and strengthens its strategic partnership with the United States.
"It is not an abandonment of the Palestinian cause ... it is to strengthen Bahrainis' security and their economic stability," minister Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa said in a statement.
"Iran has chosen to behave in a dominating way in several forms and has become a constant danger that harms our internal security," Khalifa continued, adding that it was wise to forestall dangers.
Unlike in the UAE, opposition to normalization runs deep in Bahrain, which has a history of open politics and civil society movements, even if they have been suppressed over the past decade.
In the wake of the Arab Spring protests in 2011, the Sunni monarchy accused thousands of dissidents from the Shiite majority of receiving their instructions from Iran.
Hundreds of citizens have since been jailed and some stripped of their citizenship over what the government says is "terrorism" linked to Iran, noted AFP.
Since 2011, protests have been extremely rare and are met harshly by security forces.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Rosh Hashanah in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)