On the last day of his historic visit to Bahrain, Defense Minister Benny Gantz praised Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa Thursday for allowing him to conduct his visit openly and revealed that Jerusalem and Manama have had unofficial defense ties for years.
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"I thank the king for the hospitality and the brave decision to make the visit public," he said, hailing Israel and Bahrain's "defense ties over the years. This is a historic moment to make them official and public."
Israel "wants and needs to develop ties with Bahrain, both in civil and security aspects. Cooperation will allow us to create forums and working groups that will address the two countries' operational needs," Gantz said.
Speaking about the Gulf region, he added, "The moderate camp needs to be strengthened. The formal ties allow us to come together and act against common threats. It has only been a year since the Abraham Accords, the next decade will see significant developments."
Gantz spoke during a visit to the United States Navy's Fifth Fleet that is hosted by the Gulf nation.
"The American presence here and in the region creates a strategic anchor in the Middle East, as we saw with the Fifth Fleet," Gantz said and took the opportunity to congratulate Washington on the assassination of Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi during a raid in northwest Syria on Thursday.
"This is an important and courageous act. It is a vital message to the world – when America has a will, it will find a way."
The defense minister also addressed the matter of the military aid that Israel has recently offered Lebanon, saying that the Lebanese people are not Israel's enemy.
"If Israel can do something positive, it will. It does not harm the Lebanese or the world. It would be good for Lebanon to be in a fair economic situation in order to maintain stability," Gantz said.
On Thursday, the defense minister and his Bahraini counterpart Abdullah Bin Hassan Al Nuaimi signed a security memorandum of understanding that "will support any future cooperation in the areas of intelligence, mil-to-mil [military to military], industrial collaboration and more," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
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