Foreign minister Yair Lapid has inaugurated Israel’s embassy in Bahrain, marking Tel Aviv’s engagement with Gulf countries, which once shunned diplomatic ties with the Jewish state.

A senior rabbi in Bahrain and members of their Jewish faith welcomed Lapid’s  “historic” visit, a year after the signing of the US-brokered Abraham accords, which paved the way for the normalisation of ties between the former bitter foes.

Members of the Jewish community in Bahrain gifted a new mezuzah which was placed in the new Israeli embassy in the Bahrain.

“Today was historic for both Bahrain and Israel and an important moment for our Jewish community,” Al Arabiya quoted  Ebrahim D. Nonoo, president of the Jewish Community of Bahrain, as saying. “We had the opportunity to speak with the Foreign Minister and hear from him about the significance of the Bahrain-Israel relationship and we shared some of the recent milestones and developments in our community,” he observed.

“Being present as the new mezuzah was affixed to the entryway of the Embassy was very meaningful. The Embassy represents an address for Bahrain-Israel business, cultural and social activities to flow through.”

Going back to the 1880s, the Bahrain Jewish community is the only indigenous Jewish community in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. It has a working synagogue and the only Jewish cemetery in the region.

Significantly Lapid landed at Bahrain’s international airport in an Israir plane. Symbolically, it had an olive branch painted on its nose.

Apart from Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan and Morocco have normalised ties with Israel under the  Abraham Accords.

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