Israel 0
3 February 2022

The defence ministers of Israel and Bahrain inked a memorandum of understanding that, according to an Israeli readout, would “help advance intelligence cooperation, a framework for exercises and cooperation between the countries’ defence industries”. Speaking in Bahrain, Benny Gantz asserted that “we must strengthen the ‘moderate camp’… Our formal relations allow us to come in and work together against shared threats”. He also visited the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet base in Manama and stated that “[cooperation] is a security need of the first order in light of the growing challenges on the maritime front in particular and in the region in general… We are willing to help, to take part in joint operational activities, in order to ensure stability and so that our friends can continue to exist and to prosper securely, and we will also be better protected from the different threats facing us”.

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