Bahrain Mirror: Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa told "The Times of Israel" that Manama would "eventually" establish diplomatic ties with the Jewish state.

Asked on the sidelines of a regional conference in Warsaw if he believed such a scenario would come about, Khalifa said: "Yes, eventually."

The remark came days after an Israeli TV news station reported that the Bahraini government had expressed interest in normalizing ties with Israel two years ago. According to Channel 13, Khalifa asked former foreign minister Tzipi Livni to convey the message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a secret meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in 2017.

Both Khalifa and Netanyahu attended the US-led summit in the Polish capital this week, where the Israeli leader stood side-by-side with Arab leaders, hoping their common front against Iran could pave the way to greater normalization of relations.

At the opening dinner Wednesday night at Warsaw's Royal Castle, Netanyahu expressed delight to be addressing top officials from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain - none of which recognize the Jewish state.

"In a room of some 60 foreign ministers representative of dozens of governments, an Israeli prime minister and the foreign ministers of the leading Arab countries stood together and spoke with unusual force, clarity and unity against the common threat of the Iranian regime," Netanyahu told reporters on Thursday.

"I think this marks a change and important understanding of what threatens our future, what we need to do to secure it, and the possibility that cooperation will extend beyond security in every realm of life," he said.

The newspaper said "Gulf Arab leaders - especially Saudi Arabia's powerful crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman - have increasingly put the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the back burner as they instead push to contain historic rival Iran."

Senior US officials, Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and White House Mideast envoy Jason Greenblatt all hailed the interactions between Netanyahu and Arab leaders.

Arabic Version