Protests in Bahrain over opening of Israeli embassy

Police fired tear gas during one rally as scattered, small-scale protests took place around the tiny Persian Gulf state. Protesters marched waving Palestinian and Bahraini flags, chanting “Death to Israel” and “No to the Israeli embassy in Islamic Bahrain”. No arrests were reported. Lapid’s visit on Thursday came a year after Bahrain normalised ties with Israel, breaking with decades of Arab consensus that there should be no relations without a resolution to the Palestinian question.

The United Arab Emirates, Sudan and Morocco also established relations in a series of US-brokered agreements known as the so-called Abraham Accords. “His Majesty’s leadership and inspiration have led to true cooperation and our meeting outlined the path forward for our relationship,” Lapid had said on Twitter after landing in Bahrain.

The accords have been denounced by Palestinians as abandoning a unified position under which Arab states would make peace only if Israel gave up occupied land. In Gaza, the Hamas group criticised Bahrain for hosting Lapid, who returns to Israel on Thursday evening. Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said this represented “an encouragement” of what he described as Israeli “crimes against our people”.

Lapid’s office said he and his Bahraini counterpart signed deals on cooperation in medicine, healthcare, sports, and on water and environmental conservation.