Bahrain's Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa in Manama, Bahrain, on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016 (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)
Bahrain’s long-serving prime minister has called Qatar’s emir to mark the start of the holy month of Ramadan in a rare contact between Doha and the countries boycotting it.
Bahrain’s state-run news agency acknowledged the call between Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa and Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in a report early Tuesday.
It described the call as “restricted” to Ramadan greetings.
However, the island nation of Bahrain off the coast of Saudi Arabia has served as a stalking horse for Gulf Arab nations in warming ties to Israel.
Bahrain, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have boycotted Doha over a political dispute since June 2017. The nations have banned their citizens from travel to or communication with the emirate over what they say are Doha’s ties to both Iran and radical Islamist groups.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Editionby email and never miss our top stories
Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani attends the opening of the 30th Arab Summit in Tunis, Tunisia, March 31, 2019. (Fethi Belaid/ Pool photo via AP)
Qatar rejects the charges and says the countries are seeking regime change in Doha.
On Monday, the UAE released a Qatari naval vessel and four sailors it seized nearly a week earlier.
Advertisement
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
