Following the signing of the Warm Peace Agreement in the Negev Summit, the Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs Alon Ushpiz paid a diplomatic visit to Bahrain.
During the visit, the DG headed the Israeli delegation to the second session of the Bilateral Steering Committee and held a series of official meetings with the Bahrain leadership, including HRH the Crown Prince, the Foreign Minister and his Deputy Foreign Minister.
During the Negev summit in March 2022, Israel and Bahrain signed a "warm peace agreement" between the two countries, which is a roadmap for the development of bilateral relations between the two countries over the next decade.
Ushpiz said, “Relations with Bahrain are at the core of Israel's political activity. The roadmap for developing relations between the countries is built step by step in practical terms that bear fruit for the benefit of both peoples.”
“I am happy for the opportunity to chair the second session, which is intended to ensure that its products will form another pillar of Israel Bahrain relations, and will contribute to regional stability, including the continuation of the Negev Summit process.”
In statements about the visit, Ushpiz said, “As with my previous visits to Bahrain, I am always happy to visit here, both professionally and personally. I think that we have managed to build ties based not only on joint interests, but also on trust, friendship, and shared values of tolerance, coexistence, and peace.”
Ushpiz added that he is proud that during his tenure as the Director General of the Foreign Ministry, he managed not only to forge ties, but also to form meaningful content for our peoples and children within this framework.
The Israeli official also said that his country is striving to expand and deepen its ties with all the countries of peace in the region, and Bahrain is absolutely one of the main ones.
“Economic agreements, beyond the fact that they develop commerce, also give our relations an additional and more tangible aspect that connects our peoples and gives them the opportunity to get to know one another, and forms strategic ties that bind the peoples and countries together,” he added.
Ushpiz went on to say that peace and peace treaties do not have to be in title only.
“Strategically, we believe that for peace to succeed and prosper, we must forge real content that emphasizes the benefits and gains for each party to the agreement. Both countries possess proven capabilities in the field of innovation and high-tech, as well as in the field of advanced medicine, and Bahrain has a significant role to play in the region’s economic growth and is an important bridge to other countries.”
“Israel has proven capabilities in the fields of water management and combating desertification, issues that Bahrain is also grappling with, and I promise that we can achieve a great deal in these fields. This is also the vision and thinking that underpinned the joint “warm peace” strategy that prioritizes areas of common interest, including innovative systems, food security, water, sustainable energy, health, education, trade, and investments.“
He added, “The economic agreements we have signed are bridges which businessmen on both sides will use to promote ties between our countries. We are planning on reaching an investment agreement between Israel and Bahrain and establishing a mentoring program that will allow Bahraini youth to come to Israel long-term to discover Israeli high tech.
“This private sector activity between our countries is of great importance, and there is a commitment on both sides to do more to increase trade volume,” he said.
Ushpiz has been a strong supporter of Trump’s Abraham Accords peace plan that led to fascinating results on social, political, and economic levels.
“If there is one thing I have learned during my years as a diplomat, it is that it is wrong to conduct Israel’s diplomatic work in the media.
“Israel has always been open to peace with its neighbors, and this of course remains the situation today. The Negev Summit showed that we and the countries of peace have common interests and threats to regional stability and prosperity and development, and that we can only benefit from cooperation.
“The Negev Summit is not only a framework for intimate dialogue between leaders, but also a framework for presenting significant achievements for cooperation.
Ushpiz added, “The same is true of other countries in the region, and I have no doubt that the ‘peace club’ will grow with additional countries from our region and beyond who will join the peace and normalization agreements. The idea of the Abraham Accords is that it be a living and breathing club to which new members can join.”
“Bahrain, the UAE, and Morocco, as well as the United States, play a key role as a bridge connecting Israel to new partnerships.”
Assessing the efforts made by the Israeli embassy in Bahrain six months after assuming its duties in Manama, Ushpiz said, “I believe that the fact that I’m here speaks for itself.”
“Due to the importance that we attach to relations with Bahrain, we have ensured that only the best diplomats will be appointed to the embassy. Indeed, in the year and a half since ties were established, we have agreed on a “warm peace” strategy and signed forty joint agreements, as well as Memoranda of Understanding.
“Senior Israeli officials have arrived to Bahrain, and senior Bahraini officials have visited Israel. Gulf Air flies from Israel to Bahrain, and there are many Israeli companies coming to Bahrain to do business. The Israeli Embassy in Manama also hosted the Israeli Independence Day reception on Bahraini soil for the first time in history.”
“We have mutual ambassadors in both countries that are working hard to make this all happen,” he added.
Talking about whether the Arab Israeli peace agreements will contribute to find the appropriate solution for the Palestinian cause, Ushpiz said that as Foreign Minister Lapid said during the Negev Summit, the summit and joint forum which was created is open to all, including the Palestinians.
“All members of the peaceful states understand that we do not always agree on everything, but that does not mean that we cannot hold an ongoing dialogue between us on a wide range of issues, in the understanding that our relationship is important and beneficial to us and our peoples.
“Something else that was very clear was the fact that all the leaders and countries that are members of the peace club are partners in the fight against extremism, and that we will not let them – extremists and terrorists – scare us. To the contrary.”
He added, “We hope that the Palestinians will be able to come to the negotiating table without preconditions to advance peace between us and enjoy the fruits of peace in the region. The peace and normalization agreements, as well as the Negev Summit, are proof to the peoples of the region that there is another model, one in which governments and leaders work for their citizens.”
Concerning the Iraqi parliamentary legislation that criminalizes the normalization and brings to death penalty those who seek peace, Ushpiz said, “I think that peace is a good and blessed thing, period. I think that any initiative, such as the Iraqi initiative, to punish dialogue and the desire to develop a discourse and promote peace is a bad thing. I think that the people of Iraq are interested in and understand not only the benefits of peace, but especially the benefits of peace with Israel.”
He added, “We see this in real life every day. The Foreign Ministry has social media pages in a variety of languages, including Arabic, which has over half a million Iraqi followers. In 2018, we launched an official Facebook page called “Israel in the Iraqi Dialect” to serve as a kind of virtual embassy for building bridges and ties with the Iraqi people. That page now has over 600,000 followers, most of them from Iraq.
“I must point out that, for the most part, reactions from the people of Iraq have had a positive and sympathetic sentiment in favor of relations with Israel and of cultural and social ties between the peoples.”
Lapid previously said that deepening the relations between Israel and Arab States will help confronting Iran’s threats in the region.
Commenting on his statement, Ushpiz said, “Israel and other countries in the region share similar fears and concerns over Iran’s intensification and conduct in the region, particularly the Iranian nuclear program and terrorist activities – whether carried out by government institutions or proxy terrorist organizations – which aim to sow destruction, terrorism, and instability in the region.
“Israel and many other countries in the region share a common concern over Iran, and it is greatly important that the international community listen to our collective voice on this issue.”
Talking about the development of Turkish-Israeli relations, Ushpiz said that relations between Israel and Turkey have been on a course of improvement for some time now, and it is important that we continue to examine, together with Turkey, the ways and means of gradually strengthening ties between us, including through the entire range of economic issues.
“This was the essence of the important visit paid by the President of the State of Israel, Isaac Herzog, to Turkey in March, and the visit of the Turkish Foreign Minister to Israel a number of days ago. It is part of our ongoing dialogue with the Turks both at level of our foreign ministries, as well as between leaders.
“It is clear that the question of the activity in Turkey of Hamas, a designated terrorist organization that espouses the murder of Jews and Israelis, is important and central both generally and within the framework of our relations with Turkey in particular.”
Assessing the Biden administration's performance towards the Arab-Israeli peace process, the Israeli official said that the United States is Israel’s central and most important ally.
“Israel does not and has not had a close friend like the United States. I think that we both agree on a number of basic tenets in the Palestinian context, including Minister Lapid’s “Economy for Security” plan with regards to the Gaza Strip, which aims firstly to provide humanitarian reconstruction to Gaza in exchange for combatting the expansion of Hamas.
“Lapid has stated several times that even if we cannot reach a political settlement with the Palestinians, Israel also has an interest in seeing the Palestinian economy and society prosper, as long as the security of Israel and its citizens is maintained,” he added.
Some Arab media usually describe those who kill innocent civilians as martyrs. Ushpiz commented by saying, “I think that the media bears the responsibility not only to bring the accurate reality to light, but also to help build the right reality.
“When discussing a terrorist incident in which a terrorist seeks to kill as many Israelis as possible, the incident should be treated as such: a terrorist attack whose entire purpose is to instill death, murder, and fear in the hearts of civilians.
“Any other framing of reality not only violates the profession, but it encourages and enables the next terrorist attack against civilians. Extremists and terrorism have one goal, to kill and intimidate. To spread destruction and ruin. We must not allow them to do so.”
Last March, the Foreign Ministers of the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Egypt met in the Negev with the Israeli Prime Minister last March.
Ushpiz said that in a meeting with Foreign Minister Lapid, it was agreed to establish working groups in six areas common to all participants, whose goal would be to improve the daily lives of their citizens.
“They spanned from regional security through to education, health, energy, tourism, food, and water. This means that in terms of work levels, the ties between the countries and collaborations are ongoing and permanent.
“I think that this is one of the successes that came out of the Summit. This, and the fact that this is now a forum that is expected to convene regularly, ensures the deepening of the connection and dialogue between us, and this is of great importance to Israel and Minister Lapid.”
“At the Negev Summit, we agreed with our partners on continuity, cooperation, and practical results. Now we are busy doing exactly that, including during my visit to Bahrain – building the mechanisms, guidelines, goals, and results, and I hope that we will convene soon to consolidate these elements,” he added.
