‘Israel ties not changing Bahrain’s stance on Palestine’

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Staff Reporter

Increasing ties with Israel will not change the Kingdom’s stance towards Palestine, said Foreign Ministry Undersecretary for Political Affairs Dr Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa while speaking at a panel discussion on the sidelines of the 58th Munich Security Conference in Germany.

“Establishing relations with Israel doesn’t mean abandoning or changing the position of Bahrain towards Palestine and the historical rights of Palestinian people to establish their own Independent State with East of Jerusalem as its capital.

“We believe that signing of Abraham Accords would only take us a step closer to implementing the Arab Peace Initiative through dialogues, engagements, mutual understanding and respect.”

Dr Shaikh Abdulla said that within the Israeli government there is no single position on solving the Palestinian issue.

“Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, during his visit to the Kingdom, said that he supports a two-state solution.

Having the Foreign Minister of Israel say that from Bahrain is unprecedented.

“We do realise that it is not the official stand of the Israeli government, but at least we realise that there are different views across different political parties in Israel for different solutions.

“We cannot change history, but we can change the present and share the future.

We share the burden with our Palestinian brothers and we will be part of any efforts to reach a just and comprehensive solution for the Palestinian people.”

Dr Shaikh Abdulla said that Bahrain has a security agreement with Israel in place.

“Mossad is in Bahrain and Bahrain News Agency earlier reported about Mossad Chief being received by his counterpart in the Kingdom.

The security agreement between Israel and Bahrain means providing more stability and security and it further means saving the lives of innocent civilians.”