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Official Bahraini Delegation Arrives in Israel to Hold Talks With Top Officials, Reports Say

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The first official Bahraini government delegation led by Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Alzayani arrived In Israel on Wednesday for talks with the country's senior officials on the development of bilateral cooperation, following normalisation of ties in September under the US-brokered deal, the Jerusalem Post reported.
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The first-ever commercial flight from Bahrain to Israel landed at Ben Gurion International Airport at 10:30 a.m. local time (08:30 GMT).

According to the news outlet, Alzayani will meet with Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and President Reuven Rivlin and also hold a tripartite meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Bahrain and Israel are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding on direct air traffic between the two states during the visit.

Assistant to the US President and Special Representative for International Negotiations Avi Berkowitz was also on the flight.

​On 16 November, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation reported that the Gulf country's delegation would also include Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism Zayed bin Rashid Alzayani and other high-ranking officials.

Israel to Receive US Secretary of State Pompeo Together With Delegation From Bahrain

Earlier in November, the Israeli government ratified the Joint Communique on the establishment of diplomatic, peaceful, and friendly relations with Bahrain, thereby concluding the process of normalization of ties with the Persian Gulf monarchy.

On 15 September, Bahrain signed the joint communique with Israel on the normalization of relations, joining the US system of fresh peace deals with the Jewish state, also known as the Abraham Accords.

After formalizing the peace deal, top Israeli and US delegations traveled to the gulf state in October where they concluded a number of cooperation deals in different spheres, including economy, energy and aviation.

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