Hebrew and American reports revealed that Israel agreed to provide its ally, the Khaleefa regime, with drones and anti-aircraft systems to perpetuate the alliance and promote normalization between them.
The Hebrew newspaper Maariv reported that the relevant Israeli security services agreed to the repeated request of the Al-Khalifa regime to conclude a military deal with large sums of money to purchase drones and anti-aircraft systems.
The newspaper stated that the financial cost of the deal would remain secret at this stage, provided that it includes commissions and suspicions of corruption for senior officials in the Al-Khalifa regime.
The Wall Street Journal reported, “Manama worked with the Israeli security services to train its intelligence officers.”
The newspaper revealed that “Israel agreed to provide Bahrain with drones and anti-aircraft systems.”
Last February, the Undersecretary of the Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Political Affairs, Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, revealed, in discussion with Israeli Security Minister Benny Gantz, that “there is intelligence cooperation between Bahrain and Israel, as the Mossad is present in Bahrain and the region,” according to Wallah Israeli website.
He pointed out that “if this security cooperation between Bahrain and Israel will mean more stability and security, so be it, and if it means saving innocent lives, so be it. Therefore, the visits of the Mossad chief to Bahrain were announced through the Bahrain News Agency.
He explained, “The Mossad chief was received by his Bahraini counterpart, and therefore we believe that security and intelligence cooperation is part of the ongoing partnership between Bahrain and Israel, and this matter will continue.”
The facts prove the policy of the Al-Khalifa regime’s rush to strengthen relations with Israel at various levels in an unprecedented manner in the history of the region, especially at the level of countries that normalized their relations with Israel.
Hamad Al-Khalifa and his Crown Prince Salman met on several occasions with Israeli officials, including Shimon Peres, Tzipi Livni and others.
However, relations between the two parties have accelerated amazingly since the signing of the agreements declaring normalization in September 2020 under the auspices of former US President Donald Trump.
Senior Israeli officials visited Bahrain, most notably former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, followed by alternate Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, current Prime Minister Yair Lapid, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and others.
Since Crown Prince Salman took over as prime minister, the ruling regime in Bahrain has concluded several agreements with Israel, whether on the economic, health, or transportation levels, as well as security and military agreements.
The most prominent of these agreements was the stability of an Israeli liaison officer in Bahrain, in a precedent that is the first of its kind among the region’s countries.
Recently, the King of Jordan put forward the idea of establishing a Middle Eastern NATO, similar to NATO, that includes the printing countries of the region, most notably Bahrain and the UAE, in addition to the countries that have not officially announced normalization, especially Saudi Arabia.
The name of Bahrain was proposed to be the headquarters of the new alliance directed against Iran, especially since it is the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet and also includes a British military base.
American and Israeli media also revealed that Israel had deployed radar systems in Bahrain, a unique development among the region’s countries.
All this indicates that Bahrain has turned the Al-Khalifa regime into a spearhead of normalization and an alliance to confront Iran, which if a confrontation erupts between it and the United States and Israel, the weakest link in it and the biggest loser is Bahrain.