
Bahrain's decision to establish relations with Israel serves the interests of the region's "security, stability and prosperity", Khalid al-Khalifa, a former foreign minister and adviser to the king said Friday.
"It sends a positive and encouraging message to the people of Israel, that a just and comprehensive peace with the Palestinian people is the best path," al-Khalifa tweeted.
The White House announced earlier that US President Donald Trump, King Hamad bin Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa of Bahrain, and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had agreed to the establishment of full diplomatic relations between Israel and the Kingdom of Bahrain, the White House said in a statement.
Bahrain thus becomes the second Gulf state to normalize ties with Israel, after the UAE and Israel announced they were normalizing relations on August 13.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said that he was excited to announce a peace agreement with another Arab country - Bahrain.
"It took us 26 years since the second peace agreement with an Arab state to reach a third peace agreement, and it took us not 26 years but 29 days to reach a peace agreement with a fourth Arab state and there will be more," Netanyahu said in video published after the declaration.
Trump welcomed the Bahrain-Israel agreement on Twitter, hailing it as a “historic breakthrough”.
“Another HISTORIC breakthrough today! Our two GREAT friends Israel and the Kingdom of Bahrain agree to a Peace Deal – the second Arab country to make peace with Israel in 30 days!” he wrote.
Friday’s agreement follows several reports in recent weeks that Bahrain and Israel were working to finalize an agreement to normalize ties between the two countries.
The Bahraini government announced last week that it had accepted a request from the government of the United Arab Emirates to allow flights between the UAE and Israel to cross its airspace.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)