Bahrain Mirror: Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper unveiled the Israeli figure who attended the maritime security conference in Bahrain on October 20-21.

The newspaper's political correspondent Itamar Eichner indicated in a report that Dana Benvenisti, head of the Foreign Ministry's regional security and counter-terrorism department, represented Israel at this international summit, adding that she led the Israeli delegation at the conference which discussed protection for freedom of navigation in the face of Iranian threats.

He added that this participation is a new indication on strength of relationship between Israel and Arab Gulf states against the common enemy, Iran, while this international conference is considered one of the outcomes of the Warsaw Summit, held in February, which witnessed a U.S. initiative to form an international coalition with the participation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It also comes as a continuation of Bahrain's economic summit held last June.

"Bahrain's security conference comes among U.S. attempts to form an international alliance to protect maritime navigation, secure movement of oil tankers in light of recent Iranian threats and attacks on a number of naval equipment in recent weeks, which made this mission a top priority issue to the countries of the region. Therefore, Benvenisti is considered the senior Israeli diplomacy, whose visit is of exceptional importance," he explained.

He confirmed that a visit of an Israeli delegation to Bahrain headed by Economy Minister Eli Cohen along with a number of prominent Israeli businessmen and officials was canceled last April due to security concerns, after the Bahraini opposition's campaign against the visit.

The correspondent further stated that Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz said at a meeting of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in August that Israel is participating in a U.S. alliance to secure maritime traffic in the Arabian Gulf. He also briefed the committee members on his visit to Abu Dhabi and his meeting with the UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed.

He continued saying that Katz asked the State Department to work with all sides in the U.S. administration to engage in all tasks and stages necessary to secure maritime navigation, following Israel's invitation to participate in the Bahrain summit, making Israel a partner in the dialogues taking place in the United States and region. This also makes Israel take an important role in these tasks, particularly in intelligence and security issues, and in other areas where it outperforms other countries.

Eichner concluded by saying that Israel's participation in Bahrain summit falls in interest of Israel as part of its strategy to contain the Iranian threat and strengthen communication between Israel and the Gulf states.

Arabic Version