Israelis to Speak at Bahrain Event as Mideast Taboo Fades

Apr 01 2019, 6:32 AMApr 01 2019, 6:59 AMApril 01 2019, 6:32 AMApril 01 2019, 6:59 AM

(Bloomberg) -- Israeli speakers are scheduled to attend a conference in Bahrain for the first time next month, reflecting warming relations between the Jewish state and Gulf Arab governments with which it has no diplomatic ties.

Four Israelis appear on the list of speakers at the three-day Global Entrepreneurship Congress due to take place in Bahrain in mid-April, according to the event’s website.

Bahrain is the latest Gulf Arab country to begin informally relaxing restrictions on its dealings with Israelis even though a peace deal with the Palestinians remains elusive.

The only Arab states to recognize Israel are Egypt and Jordan, neighbors with whom it has hard-won peace agreements, but ties with the Gulf have been warming in recent years, primarily due to a shared distrust of Iran and the lure of Israeli technology and weaponry.

U.S. President Donald Trump has promoted this rapprochement, seeing Saudi Arabia and other Arab allies as key to his policy of confronting Iran and advancing the Middle East peace proposal he’s promised to deliver soon. Last month, Trump officially recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights Monday in a ceremony with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu has stepped up in recent months his campaign to normalize relations with Arab and Muslim-majority states. In October, he visited Oman. The same month, at least two Israeli ministers attended conferences in neighboring United Arab Emirates, and Israeli officials have hinted that there was more to come. Netanyahu visited Chad in January and the two countries restored diplomatic ties.

The changing tone was reflected in comments made last week by Anwar Gargash, U.A.E minister of state for foreign affairs, who said there would be more contact between Israel and "various Arab countries" and cast doubt over whether the Palestinians would ever have their own state.

Arab countries fought Israel’s establishment in 1948 and have shunned it at the UN in support of the displaced and stateless Palestinians. While ties with Arab governments are beginning to develop, Israel remains deeply unpopular among ordinary citizens who support the Palestinian cause.