Israeli Foreign Ministry Denies Bahrain’s Ambassador Recall

JERUSALEM — Relations between Israel and Bahrain are “stable,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Thursday, amid reports that Manama recalled its ambassador from the Jewish state.

Jerusalem did not receive any “announcement or decision from the Bahraini government to recall the countries’ ambassadors,” said the ministry.

Earlier on Thursday, Lebanon’s Al Mayadeen satellite television station, which has ties to the Hezbollah terrorist organization, reported that Bahrain recalled Ambassador Khaled Yousif Al-Jalahma and halted economic relations with Israel.

The report cited an announcement made by the Bahraini Council of Representatives, the lower house of the country’s National Assembly. The Bahraini Foreign Ministry did not issue a statement on the matter.

“The parliament affirms that the continuation of war and military operations, and the continuing Israeli escalation in light of the lack of respect for international humanitarian law, prompts it to demand more decisions and measures that preserve the lives of innocent people and civilians in Gaza and all Palestinian areas,” said a statement on the National Assembly’s website.

Israel declared war on Hamas in Gaza after the terrorist organization slaughtered more than 1,400 people, wounded more than 5,000 and took more than 200 people hostage in the western Negev on Oct. 7. 

The Israeli embassy in Bahrain was evacuated for security reasons approximately two weeks ago, after being inaugurated by Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen in early September.

Israel and Bahrain normalized relations in 2020 as part of the Abraham Accords reached under the Trump administration, which also saw Jerusalem establish official relations with the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan.

On Tuesday, a senior Emirati official said that the Abraham Accords between the UAE and Israel are not at risk, despite Abu Dhabi’s criticism of Israeli military actions against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“From the UAE perspective, the Abraham Accords are there to stay,” Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, chairman of the Defense Affairs, Interior and Foreign Relations Committee of the UAE Federal National Council, told a briefing organized by the European Jewish Association and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Produced in association with Jewish News Syndicate

(Additional reporting provided by JNS Reporter)